New Places and New Surroundings
by Jumping out of aeroplaneees
Summary: After a tragic incident in the Moon family, Austin hasn't been himself. But after meeting the new girl, Ally, will Austin go back to his old self again or will past troubles arise?
1. Prologue

**Hello! I'm back again with another story :D I promise I will update this as much as I can :)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Austin and Ally, nor am I affiliated with Disney in anyway **

Ally's POV

When I was twelve, my dad and I would constantly be on the move with my mom. One year we would be in Europe, then another year in Sweden, then China, then Australia, and now, we're in Miami. My mother, Penny, is a writer, so we usually move from place to place depending on the book she is writing. It gets sickening because I never had a real friend. For a while, my journal has been my only friend.

I was fifteen when I found out my parents were 'separating'. They were not divorcing, but rather my mom goes back to Africa to write and my dad and I stay in Miami to run Sonic Boom. I was home-schooled for a year, but my dad feels that I need to go to regular school and make friends.


	2. That's Austin Moon

-Now-

I walked through the doors of the school and everyone started to stare at me. I mean it's a small school, so everyone has to know everyone. It's strange being the new girl in school. Actually, it's strange being the new girl in a whole new atmosphere.

This short Latino girl came up to me and introduced herself. "You must be new here, hi! I'm Trish and this is Dez," she smiled. First day, and I already made an acquaintance or two?

"Hello, I'm Ally," I smiled back. Trish is very short, which is not bad considering I'm short too. Dez must be her boyfriend? He's odd. He already gives me an odd vibe right from the start. Not a bad vibe, but a this-boy-is-strange-vibe. Dez is wearing checkered pants, a cat shirt, and a cardigan; I'm assuming that he is an art student?

"What classes do you have?" Trish said, as I snapped out of my trance.

"Oh, right, sorry. AP Calc with Fuller, AP English with Campbell, Lunch, Study hall, and then gym," I mumbled. In addition to me being the new girl, they probably think I'm dorky.

"Ahh, smart girl," this blonde boy came up behind me.

"And you are…?" my heart started to pound

"My name is Austin. You must be Ally, am I right? Your father owns Sonic Boom?" he smirked, and moved next to me.

"Yeah, ha ha, he does," I awkwardly stuttered

"Well, it's nice to meet you Ally. I'll see you around," he walked off, catching up with a blonde girl, who immediately kissed him.

"That's Austin Moon. He's Dez' best friend and also an idiot like him," Trish said while laughing.

"Are you two dating?" I blurted out.

"NO" they yelled in unison. Funny, I would have assumed that they were.

"Anyway, Austin wants to be famous. That has been his goal for a while, but his dad told him he had a one in a bazillion chance, so he's been trying to prove him wrong since," Dez chuckled

"My dad told me the same thing…"

"You sing?" They looked at me, surprisingly; do I not look like a singer?

Before I could speak, they called Austin back over.

"Hey Austin, Ally sings!" Trish beamed.

"Really? That's cool," he eyed me up and down as if he is surprised.

"I have awful stage fright. I don't think anyone could ever hear me," I started to ramble.

"Don't let your stage fright get to you. You're probably awesome," Austin smirked.

"Thanks Austin, anyway, I have to get to class, bye, I'll see you tomorrow?" I sighed and walked off.

"Actually, we all have lunch together. We'll save you a seat," Trish waved from a distance.

The fifteen minutes of anxiety are over, but at least I made two, no, three new friends. High school is not as bad as what people think. I think people overreact to school. Personally, I love it.


	3. First Day

Calculus was awful. This girl Tilly has been non-stop talking about all the awesome things she did over the summer, same with this boy named Dallas.

We did this whole break the ice thing, everyone keeps asking me where I came from and what my parents did. It was awkward explaining that I was homeschool all my life because we would travel all over the world. Although it's awkward, they enjoyed listening to my stories. My whole class, except this girl named Cassidy was fascinated by my stories. Every time someone asked, she would mutter something under her breath and or roll her eyes.

I could not wait for lunch. I just wanted to talk to Dez, Trish, and Austin and maybe Dallas. Dallas is a nice person; he's clumsy, but nice. He can't say library right, which really irks me, but I'll be with him for the rest of the year, so I better get used to it.

"Ally Dawson!" Austin yells. "I saved you a seat," he waved me over.

"Thank you! But how did you know my last name?" I cocked an eyebrow.

"You dropped this earlier this morning. I was going to give it back to you, but you were running off to calc," he handed me my book

"Thank you, Austin. That's sweet of you, but don't touch my book," I blushed.

"I did not read it, trust me. I would never do that," he grinned.

"Can I interrupt you two, so I can sit next to my new best friend?" Trish scolded him.

"Right, sorry, Trish. Ally move closer to me so Trish and Dez can fit," he pulled me closer to him.

"I see Austin has made a new friend," Trish and Dez started to laugh.

"Hey stop, Ally's a nice girl," he blushed again.

"It's fine, Austin, we're kidding. Anyway, tell us about yourself," Dez started to take a huge bite of his pizza. There is something about talking with your mouth full of food makes me want to choke.

"Well, my name is Ally, but you knew that," I started to talk. Suddenly, Cassidy came over and interrupted me.

"Austin, why is there no space for me?" Cassidy glared at me.

"Sorry…we'll sit over there," he started to get up.

"I'll see you there, Austy," she kissed him, but he didn't kiss her back. He looked as if he is in pain.

Austin rolled his eyes and sat back down.

"I'm sorry. Cassidy has clung onto me this whole summer. She's a great girl and all, but she's too clingy. It's scary," he groaned.

"Just break up with her," Trish yelled at him.

"I can't. I'm scared she'll kill me or something," he groaned. "Sorry, but Ally, continue this is about you, not me" he smiled again.

"Are you sure?"

"Trust me, I'll be fine. She's on the phone anyway," he looked over at her.

"O…kay, well, I was homeschooled for the longest time. My family moved around a lot because my mom is a writer. We have travelled the world together as a family, but last year my dad and mom felt that I needed to attend regular school with actual people. So as of now, my mom is in Africa, while my dad is here running Sonic Boom," I rambled.

"That's so cool!" Austin beams. "I've always wanted to travel the world as a famous singer," he added.

"You will someday," I assured him.

"I can't write a song. There's no way I'll make it big," he sighed.

"Come by Sonic Boom after school," I smiled.

"Why…?" he looked at me.

"I can help you write a song,"

"Austin!" Cassidy yelled

"Sorry… I have to leave, bye guys," he ran off.

"Cassidy need to stop being so clingy. It's not cool at all," Dez pouted, and looked over at them.

"Oh boo hoo, Dez. Austin just needs to break up with her," Trish snapped.

"But Austin does not have the power to do that," he rebutted.

"Yeah because you and him watch romance movies and cry. He's a real tough guy," Trish rolled her eyes.

"Hey! Ally, what do you think about this?" They looked at me.

"Well, if he's unsatisfied, he should break up with her," I mumbled.

"Exactly. This is why we are best friends," Trish smiled

School went by fast when you're having fun. I walked to Sonic Boom hoping to see Austin, but there was no trace of him. I guess he was not coming.

"Hello, Ally! And you must be Mr. Dawson" Austin said while walking through the door.

"Call me Lester, it's nice to meet you," dad shook his hand. "Ally told me a lot about you. She says you're a musician?"

"Yeah, that I am," his face started to turn red.

"Dad is the practice room ready?" I interrupted, mainly to save Austin from an awkward conversation.

"Not yet, Ally, it won't be ready for a while either," he said while picking up a box.

"Why not?"

"I just don't have the time. Unless you take a weekend and straighten it up," he groaned.

"I'll help you and I'm pretty sure Dez will too. Trish not so much, but Dez will," Austin said while smiling at me.

"Really?"

"Yeah, anything to help out a friend," he paused. "Lester, do you need help carrying some of these boxes?" he asked.

"No, it's okay. You kids have fun," Dad started to huff and puff.

"Sorry the room isn't ready," I apologized.

"It's fine, I have a piano at my house, unless you have one at yours. I prefer going to your house. My parents can be embarrassing," he let out a shaky laugh.

"You have not seen embarrassing until you saw my dad, trust me," I laughed.

"Your house it is," he grinned.

The walk home was peaceful. It's not too far from my house. Probably ten minutes.

"So, Dawson, tell me about yourself," he looked over at me.

"I'm a really boring person," I admitted.

"You can't be boring. You must have some fun!"

"I read books and that's about it," I started to slow down.

"It must have been rough constantly moving," he slowed down his pace.

"Yeah, it was and it's harder moving into a completely new setting" I admitted.

"What do you mean?" he stopped completely.

"It's just like, I've been homeschooled, and so I've never really had any friends. You, Trish, and Dez are my first friends. Out of the sixteen years I've been alive, I have never had someone to talk to besides my dad. Mom was always busy with writing, so it was my dad and I," I mumbled.

"Well, I'll always be your friend no matter what." He grinned and continued walking.

**-Ally's backyard- **

"Wait. You never told me about yourself," I sat down next to him.

"Well, my middle name is Monica. Yes, Monica as in Monica Geller or Bing, depending on how far you are in Friends. You've seen friends right?" I nod. "I'm not the brightest person. Uh…I like pancakes and romance movies. Lets see, I want to be a famous singer someday, but I have a bazillion in one chance of making it…"

"Wait, did you say a bazillion in one?" I cut him off.

"Yeah, why?"

"My dad told me the same thing…" I whispered

"You must be pretty talented," he said.

"Not really. No, I'm scared to perform in front of others" I started to chew my hair.

"I'm assuming you chew your hair when you're nervous? Do I make you nervous?" he moved closer.

"No, it's just that. Well… I never talked about my stage fright and it's just, you know? Hard," I choked.

"Whenever you're ready to tell me, I'll be listening," he got up. "You said you were going to help me write a song?" He laughed. He has the cutest laugh. Boys like Austin do not come around that often. It's hard to find a friend like Austin. I've known him for less than a day and I feel like I can trust him.

"It's a little chilly out," he sighed.

"Yeah, it's funny because it's Miami and isn't Miami supposed to be warm?" I questioned.

"Usually, but September is a weird month here," he chuckled.

"Wish I wore a heavier jacket," I laughed.

"Here, you can have mine," he smiled.

"Thank you, Austin," I blushed.

"No problem, we should head inside," he grinned. My house is embarrassing. It's not ready yet. There are boxes everywhere still.

"I'm just warning you, my house isn't that ready yet," I sighed.  
"It's fine! I don't mind at all."


	4. New Friends

"What do you have so far?" I yawned.

"Nothing. I can't write a song to save my life," he pleaded. Great. Austin cannot write a song. This should be fun.

"Oh, Austin. Think long and hard about this," I sighed, hoping he leaves by eight so I can do homework and so I can write in my book.

Working on a song with Austin is not the best thing, but he is a great singer. His voice is absolutely beautiful. He also smells like a nice summer breeze.

**-Two hours later-**

"We did it Ally!" he cheered.

"Yeah, only took two hours," I laughed.

"Hey, listen, do you think I should break up with Cassidy?" he mumbled, and sat on my bed. Yes, Austin, she treats you poorly, you really should. But, this is not my business. I don't know him personally or Cassidy.

"It's your choice, really. Why the sudden question?" I sat down next to him. Seriously, Austin, do it.

"It's just that I'm not into her and I figured we're going to be spending a lot of time together and I know Cassidy will assume that I'm cheating on her with you and things could go down hill from there," he sighed. What did he mean by spending a lot of time together?

"Wait. Rewind. What do you mean by spending a lot of time?" I glared at him.

"I want you to be my songwriter. I know I can write a song, but the song you showed me earlier was great. Ally, you're really talented. Think about it, you're a songwriter with stage fright and I like performing. We're perfect for each other," he smiled, moving closer towards me.

"Okay, I'll do it," I whispered.

"Seriously?" he inched closer.

"Yes," my heart started to beat a mile a minute. I've never been this close with a boy in my life, hell; I've never had a friend besides my dad. I've been homeschooled my whole life.

"Question?" I move backwards.

"Answer," he smirks.

"Why did you not want me to come over your house?" I questioned

"It's just that my parents are embarrassing," he trembled. "It's like, I don't know. It's complicated," he sighed.

"If you ever want to explain, I'll listen," I smiled at him,

"You're a great person, Als," he whispered

"Austin, it's getting a little late," I smiled.

"Right. Sorry, smart girl has to do her homework," he teased.

"Sadly," I frowned.

"I'll see you tomorrow?" he questioned.

"Well, duh," I laughed.

"Do I need to do a cliché move and jump out of your window?" he joked.

"Well, I mean if you want, but you might break a bone or two," I rolled my eyes.

"True. I'll take the stairs," he laughs. "Night, Ally," he awkwardly hugged me.

"Night, Austin," I blushed.

I waited for the door to close so I could write in my book.

"September 3, 2012

First day was odd? I guess you could call it odd. Surprisingly, high school is fun. I made a few friends and possibly a few enemies? My life is like a movie, it's predictable and ridiculous. I met Austin and we instantly connected. He's such a sweet guy and a great friend. When you read about high school there's always the stereotypical clique and the high school hottie who is usually a jerk. It's funny, Austin is known as the heartbreaker, but he's really not. He's a great person who gets tied up with the wrong people (Cassidy). Trish is very assertive. I like it though. You always need that tough friend who is not afraid of anything. Dez on the other hand, he's a little bit crazy. A little bit? He's nuts! But he's also compassionate about his friends and super artsy. Now Dallas. Dallas is really cute, but seems to only care about himself. There's nothing special about him, maybe him and Cassidy will end up together…"

-Austin's POV-

Ally is a sweet girl. For a girl that has been homeschooled her whole life, she is not awkward at all. She can be awkward at times, but it's cute. I knew kids that were homeschooled and their social skills sucked. They were awkward, not like Ally-chewing-her-hair-awkward, but like awkward. There was not a way to put it…they were flat out awkward.

Trish and Dez told me to break up with Cassidy along with five other people, except Ally. She told me that it's my choice. I would have sworn Ally would have told me to break up with her. Ally and I shared a connection walking to her house. It was a weird connection. I just met her and I feel close to her.

"Austin, you have an appointment with your therapist in twenty minutes," mom yelled.

"Alright, I'm coming," I fixed my hair and sighed.

"We're going to be late, hurry up," she warned.

"Coming," I groaned.

I love the therapist. She is such a great lady; she really helps me with my problems.

"I'll pick you up at nine, alright?" mom asked and I nodded.

"Love you sweetie," she kissed my forehead.

"Love you too, mom."

"Austin, are you ready?" Andrea called me in.


	5. Therapy

"So, Austin. How has high school been treating you?" Andrea questioned.

"It's been good, it could be better. I mean it's my first day, so it could change," I smiled.

"How has your home been?" she asked.

"Since the death of Matthew my family has been falling apart. It's upsetting; I know my mom is still really upset. My dad is still really flustered from it," I gulped.

"How are you doing though?"

"It happened less than a year ago. It's hard to wake up and realize that he's not there with you anymore. My girlfriend, Cassidy has not been supportive at all. She won't listen to me. All she cares about herself. I have not told many people. I told her, Trish, and Dez. I want to tell this girl I just met, but I'm scared. I don't want her to treat me differently. I love the way she treats me now and I would not want to change that," I sighed.

"You tell me about Cassidy all the time, Austin. I thought you told me you were going to break up with her," Andrea cocked a brow.

"I tried, but I couldn't. I hate making people upset. I just want my mom and dad to be happy, but it's hard to make them happy. Everything is just hard. This girl, Ally. She is fantastic. She is always the happiest girl and sends nothing but positive vibes. I love everything about her and I just met her today," I gushed.

"Do you like this Ally girl?"

"No. As a friend I do. In fact, I'm envious of her. She has a beautiful home and a happy family. I have my parents at the mattress business more than usual now and an empty room next to mine," I sighed.

"Last session we talked about your struggle depression, how has that been?"

"It's been hard, really hard, I'm trying to start school with a positive outlook. It's just Ally sends all of these positive vibes to me and I instantly start to feel better," I tried to smile.

"When you have the right people in your life, you're usually the happiest. Take that to heart, Austin. I'm sorry, but your session is over. I'll see you next week," she smiled.

"Thank you," I sighed and walked out.

* * *

I opened my phone with five text messages; Four from Cassidy and one from Ally.

"_Austin, where have you been all day?"_

"_We were supposed to go to the movies tonight…"_

"_Are you with that Ally girl?"_

"_Austin call me."_

"_Hey Austin it's Ally (Trish gave me your number). You left your jacket at my house, should I bring it tomorrow or do you want to get it in the morning? Bye :)"_

"_Ally, it's fine. Keep it. It's too small for me anyway,"_ I lied. She looked cute in it.

"_Cassidy. I was home with my family. I'm at the doctors right now. I'll see you tomorrow. Ok?"_

"_You sure you weren't with Ally? I see the way you look at her…"_

"_No. I just met Ally, why would I be interested in her?"_

"_No reason. See you tomorrow,"_

"_Austin. Are you really sure I can keep it? I feel bad. I just met you and I'm already stealing your clothes," _I laughed a little bit.

'_Trust me Ally. You can keep it. Think of it as a welcome to Miami gift."_

"_Whatever you say, Austin"_

"_I'll see you tomorrow Allycat"_

Allycat…Why did I just call her Allycat?

"Austin, I'm here," mom yelled.

"Hi mom," I smiled.

"How was it? Do you feel better?" she sighed.

"Mom, what's wrong?" I looked at her.

"Nothing. You just seem a lot happier in the last hour. What changed you?" she questioned.

"I made a new friend, that is all," I smiled.

"Would this new friend happen to be a future girlfriend?" she cooed.

"No! I'm dating Cassidy. Well I don't want to date Cassidy, but you know," I mumbled.

"I wanna meet her! What's her name? Austin, bring her over for dinner one night," mom beamed.

I have not seen my mom this happy in a while. Just because I'm suddenly happier, she's happy. I feel my mom worries about me more than herself.

The car ride home was awkward…she would not shut up about Ally. She told me that I finally met a girl that would treat me the way I treat her. I should date Ally. Ally this, Ally that, Ally everything.

"Mike, get this! Austin has a girlfriend," Mom cheered.

"Cassidy? The one we hate?" dad glared.

"No, her name is Ally," Mom giggled.

"Ally is not my girlfriend. I just met her," I snapped.

"Girlfriend or not, have her over for dinner one night. If Ally is the reason you're happier, maybe we need to meet her. She can send her positive vibes to us too," Dad smiled.

"I'll text her right now," I groaned.

"_Hey Ally."_

"_Hi Austin?"_

"_What are you doing next Friday night?"_

"_Nothing…why…"_

"_Do you want to have dinner with me and my family?"_

"_I thought you said your family was embarrassing?"_

"_Oh, believe me, they are…"_

"_I can't next Friday. I have to help my dad with Sonic Boom. Another weekend? Should I look nice?"_

"_Whenever you're free, just come home after school with me. And you always look nice," _you always look nice. I have a girlfriend…

"_Alright, Moon. Why me though? Why not Cassidy? Dallas? Trish? Dez?"_

"_They've met them already! They want to meet you. They always want to meet my friends."_

"_Weird, but alright. By the way, your sweatshirt is comfy. Night, Austin"_

"_Night, Ally"_

"Austin, are you sure you don't like her?" Dad came up from behind.

"I'm positive. I just met her today. I don't know anything about her. From what I know is that she could be a serial killer," I rebutted.

"You're blushing really hard, Austin" mom chimed in.

"Guys, whatever you do tomorrow. Do not bring up Matthew. I want to tell her myself. I don't want her treat me differently. Just do me that one favor. I know it hurts you guys, but just please do me that one favor," I pleaded.

"Okay, Austin. I can respect that," Dad smiled.

"Yeah, sweetie. We won't be home until four tomorrow. We're having an annual mattress sale. So if you could put the pasta on around five tomorrow, it'll be perfect," Mom smiled.

"Yes," I nodded.

"Good night, Austin," they yelled.

"Night, guys," I yawned.


	6. Week Two

Second week of junior year, not the nicest way to wake up, but I get to see Dez, Trish, and Ally.

Although, Trish, Dez, and I gave Ally a tour of Miami all of yesterday. That was nice.

"Austin!" Cassidy hissed.

"Yes, princess?" I rolled my eyes.

"Where were you last night?" she yelled.

"For the last time. I was home and at the doctors. What else do you want from me?" I yelled.

"What about Ally? Were you with her?" she glared.

"Actually, yeah. I was at Ally's house. You know why? Because she's new here and I wanted to show her around Miami, because I'm a nice person, unlike you," I snapped.

"Are you cheating on me with that Ally girl?" she hissed.

"No, for the last fucking time. I am not cheating on you with Ally," I yelled. Suddenly, the hallway got quiet.

"Then why were you with her last night?" she questioned.

"Because she is a friend. Can I not hangout with my friends? I screamed.

"Oh you can, but not with Ally?" she hissed.

"Listen, Cassidy. You are not in charge of me. Ally is a terrific girl and you have no reason to hate her. I don't care if you're my girlfriend or not, Ally is always going to be a friend. If you're not happy with it then go away," I hissed.

"Really? Then who are you texting?" she grabbed my phone.

"I was texting Dez to see when he was getting here," I yelled.

"Oh, you gave Ally your sweatshirt? What did you ever give me Austin? Nothing. Are you sleeping with Ally?" she yelled. I noticed that Ally and Trish were behind her watching. Ally looked annoyed and humiliated and Trish, she just looked angry.

"Listen, Cassidy. I would leave Austin alone. He's not into you," Trish interfered. Usual Trish. She's a great friend, but bossy.

"Do you have a say in this Ally? Aka the girl sleeping with my boyfriend" Cassidy hissed, and Ally shook her head.

"Don't even bring Ally into this," I snapped. "Ally is not the problem in this, you are the problem, Cassidy. You've been the problem this whole summer," I added.

"Ally is the problem! She's breaking us apart," she sobbed.

"If Ally was the problem, I wouldn't be talking to her. I would not be arguing with you. Ally is not the problem at all. You clung onto me in this whole summer and I'm sick of it. You're unsupportive, rude, and ignorant. My family hates you," I hissed.

"What are you trying to say?" she snapped.

"I'm breaking up with you?" I hissed.

"This is all your fault" Cassidy glared at Ally.  
"Excuse me. What did she ever do to you?" Trish hissed.

"Everything," she sobbed

"I'm sorry?" Ally muttered to me.

"Don't be, Ally, don't be sorry. You didn't do anything," I sighed.

"Oh, yeah, take your new girlfriends side," Cassidy rolled her eyes.

"New girlfriend?" Ally's head shot up.

"Ally. It's obvious…" I heard Trish whisper to her.

There's never a fight at Marino High School, I guess I was the first one to start one? Anyway, for the rest of the day Ally would text me saying that Cassidy was giving her death glares in class. Same went for me, whenever she walked past me, she would start to cry. I hate making people sad, but with Cassidy, I didn't mind much.

"Today felt like forever," Ally sighed.

"Listen, I'm really sorry about this morning," I must have apologized about fifty times.

"It's fine. Listen, she treated you like dirt. I would have blown up in her face if I were you," she smiled.

"If Cassidy tries to destroy you in anyway, I'll always back you up. I'm really sorry," I sighed.

"Austin. Stop apologizing, it is fine, for the hundredth time, I forgive you. Its fine," she laughed.

"Sorry the walk is long…" I mumbled.

"What did I say about apologizing? And it's not a bad walk it's actually really peaceful. Are you sure there wasn't a faster way to your house?" she questioned.

"Well yeah, but I like the scenic route better," I laughed.

"So…" I added.

"So," she mumbled.

"Dallas asked me out," she blurted out.

"What?" I looked at her.

"Yeah. I don't know. He just asked me out in the middle of class," she gulped.

"Did you say yes?" I felt my blood boiling. The idea of Ally and Dallas dating is ridiculous. They're nothing alike. He would hurt her just like every other girl.

"I said no," she smiled.

"Good. Dallas is no good anyway," I sighed. He was still my friend, but I know he has a bad reputation with girls.

"Yeah, Trish told me about him," she laughed.


	7. Assumptions

-Ally's POV-

After this morning's event, everyone kept asking me if Austin and I were dating. It's just all the girls drool over him, but I don't see anything special about him. He's a nice guy, he's funny, and yeah. But, he's just like everyone else. What makes Austin Moon so special?

His house is nice, it's a lot like mine, only bigger.

Austin's room was spacious, messy, and smelled of pancakes. When I say messy, it was extremely messy. Clothes everywhere, fast food boxes stacked in his trashcan, tissues, you name it.

"Take a seat," he grinned while pushing a pile of clothes off of his bed.

"Austin, when are your parents going to be here?" I questioned.

"Probably an hour, why?" he whispered.

"Just wondering," I mumbled.

"Ally, what's wrong?" he said while moving closer.

"Nothing. It's just people assume things and I don't think I like it," I sighed.

"You mean about this morning?" he questioned.

"Yeah, exactly, they assume were dating because we're really close. I mean I just met you but I feel like I've known you forever. Maybe because I've never had a friend before, but it's just like I feel you've been my friend forever…I'm sorry if that was awkward," I bit my lip.

"It's not awkward, Ally. It's cute. You're cute. Anyway, I feel the same. You make me feel better about myself. You're just one of those friends that send the best positive vibes, you know?" he started to blush.

"What do you mean positive vibes?" I questioned.

"Nothing, it's just it's nice to have a friend that is always happy. When I met you, you had that positive aura around you and it's nice to see that. I haven't seen a positive aura in a while. I mean yeah, Trish and Dez are happy, but they bicker a lot and it's not like it bothers me, but they obviously like each other and they are in denial. I just like when people are happy," he whispered.

"You're not happy, are you?" I looked at him.

-Austin's POV-

"You're not happy, are you?" she mumbled. No, Ally. I'm not happy.

"No, I'm not," I sighed.

"Was it about today? I'm so sorry," she apologized.

"No, you did me a favor this morning. So thank you," I faked a smile.

"Austin, I'm obviously not from here. Actually, I've barely been in the United States. I've barely observed people, but with you, I feel there is something wrong and whatever it is, I'm here to help. You can trust me. If you ever need to talk, I'm here for you. And if I'm correct, friends are there for each other. I know you're there for me, so I'll always be there for you," she hugged me.

"Ally, you really are a sweetheart," I blushed.

"I am?" she smiled.

"Yeah, you are. Thank you for being a friend," I hugged her back.

"Austin, sweetie. We're home," Mom yelled.

"Coming," I replied.

"Get ready," I laughed.

"For?" Ally questioned.

"My family, you'll love it," I mumbled.

* * *

"Guys, this is Ally," I smiled.

"Nice to meet both of you," she mumbled.

"Oh, Ally. No need to be shy! Welcome to the family," Dad laughed.

"Why thank you Mr. and Mrs" Ally started to speak.

"You can call me Mike and this is Mimi, Dad interrupted.

"Well, it's nice to meet you Mike and Mimi," she smiled.

"So, Ally, I hope you like pasta," mom beamed.

"I do," she laughed.

Dinner was awkward. They kept pestering Ally with questions about her mom and her dad. It's actually interesting hearing the real story about Ally Dawson.

-Ally's POV-

"So, Ally, where did you move from?" Mimi questioned.

"Well, my mom travels the world, she's a writer. My dad and I used to travel with her, but they thought it was better if I attended regular school. When I was 12, I moved to London with my family so my mom could write about the history of London. At the age of 13, we went to Sweden, so my mom could write about the weather. Then at 14, we moved to China, and then at 15, I moved to Australia. When I was 16, which is now, I moved to Miami. My dad started up Sonic Boom, and here I am," I mumbled.

"That's interesting. Are your parents still together?" Mike asked, and I nodded.

"Do you still talk to your mom?" Mimi smiled.

"Yeah, but she's really busy, so it's hard to sit down and have a conversation with her," I sighed.

"Well, sweetie. If you ever need a mom, I'll be her. Any friend of Austin's is family," she smiled.

"Thank you, Mimi. That's really nice of all of you," I smiled.

Dinner was fun! I love talking to Mike and Mimi. They are like the parents I never had. Austin seemed embarrassed the whole time. I can tell he wasn't used to bringing people to his home. I don't understand why he's embarrassed about his family; they are lovely people, especially, Mimi. She is the absolute sweetest.

After dinner, Austin walked me home.

"Listen, I'm sorry if my family was weird," he apologized.

"Why are you sorry? I love your family," I admitted.

"Really? They usually weird people out," he laughed.

"No, I love your family," I smiled.

"Really?" he looked at me.

"Yes, Austin. They're great people," I rolled my eyes.

"That's good because they want you to come over more often and considering we're song partners, we'll be spending a lot of time together," he smiled.

"Yeah, when are we going to work on a song?" I asked.

"Pick a day," he grinned.

"Monday around eight? I have to help with Sonic Boom, unless you want to come there after school and we'll work between breaks," I suggested.

"I'll come to Sonic Boom. It'll be easier for me."

"Alright," I smiled.

"It's a date," he smirked.

It's a date…a date. A freaking date! Calm down, Ally, you know you guys just met and stuff. But, what…

"I'll see you tomorrow?" he hugged me.

"Yeah, I'll probably be with Trish," I grinned.

"We'll meet up," he smirked.

"Sound good," I hugged him.

"Night, Austin," I added.

"Goodnight, Ally," he waved.


	8. Revelations

-Ally's POV-

"Ally, I'm going to bed. I'll probably be gone by the time you're up. I have a business meeting in Chicago. I'll leave money on the table for you. I'll be back Monday night. I love you sweetie," dad kissed my forehead.

"Love you too, dad. When is mom coming home?" I asked.

"I don't know. The only time I've heard from her was from the letter she sent us. Try skyping her," he suggested.

"I will right now," I smiled.

"Love you sweetheart."

"Love you too, dad"

I sat on my bed and opened up Skype. Mom was on, but she was busy. I tried her anyway.

"Mom! It's so good to see you," I smiled.

"How's school treating you, Als?" she smiled.

"Pretty good. I've made a friend or two," I beamed.

"That's good," she nodded.

"When are you coming home?" I asked.

"In a month or two, sorry I haven't replied, I've been super busy with this study. I have a surprise for you though," she smiled.

"What is it?" I questioned.

"Well, I can't tell you until I get home. You'll love it though!" she beamed with joy.

"Ally, you're spacing out…are you alright?" she added.

"Yeah, I'm just seeing things," I lied. "Can you hold on?" I added.

"Yeah, sweetie. I'll be here," she smiled.

I got up from my bed to see Austin in my window. I thought he was joking.

"Austin, what are you doing here?" I whispered.

"I need to talk to you. It's important," he whispered.

"Ally? Is that your father?" I heard mom say.

"No…" I lied.

"Then who is it?" she laughed.

"Mom, I'd like you to meet Austin," my face started to turn red.

"Hello, Mrs. Dawson. I've heard a lot about you," he mumbled.

"Ally, do we need to have the talk?" she cocked an eyebrow.

"No! I just met him. Wow, that sounded really bad," I mumbled.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Austin. Take care of my daughter," she winked.

"Now why is he here?" Mom asked.

"I'm wondering the same thing, considering it is midnight," I sighed.

"I'll leave you two alone. I'll talk to you tomorrow, Als," mom hung up.

"She seems nice," Austin smirked.

"Why are you here?" I whisper-yelled.

"I need to talk to you, it's important. You're one my best friend and you need to know," he sighed.

"Alright, hold on," I quickly got up and locked my door.

"Playing it safe," I smirked.

"Is it alright if I sit down?" he questioned.

"Yes," I nodded.

-Austin's POV-

It was currently midnight and I just snuck into Ally's room. The truth has been eating me alive lately. The only people that know are Dez and Trish, but Dez is the only one that knows the full story. I feel Ally needs to know too. She needs to know the real Austin Moon.

"You're not okay," she blurted out.

"How did you know?" I looked at her.

"Why would you come into my room at midnight? Plus, I thought I saw something near your wrist" she mumbled.

"I may be new to this whole friend thing, but I'm not an idiot. I know when someone is hurt," she added, holding my hand.

"No, I'm not okay," I sighed.

"You don't have to tell me, but if you want to, I'm here," she smiled.

"I wanted to tell you earlier, when you were at my house. You were laughing and getting along perfectly with my family. You answered everything honestly and had no problem with it. I felt like you need to know a huge part of my past because you told my family a huge part of yours," I squeezed her hand.

"Take your time," she smiled.

"A year ago," I choked.

"Austin, take it step by step, I'll be here all night."

"Last year, I went to this party with a couple of friends and these guys showed up wanting to start a fight with Dallas and this other guy, Ethan. They were obviously drunk and it was just a mess. They wanted to fight me because I was dating this girl Brooke at the time. I thought it was stupid that they wanted to fight me, but I fought back anyway. Anyway, my brother, Matthew, ran across the street to try and break the fight up, ended up getting involved with one of the guys too," I choked, trying to hold back the tears.

"Austin, I'm so sorry," she hugged me.

"The one kid, Barry, who was Matthews age had a knife, and stabbed him. Matthew would have been fine if I didn't fight back. To be honest, I wish I were the one dead. Matthew didn't deserve that at all," I broke down. "I started to date Cassidy after, just so I could have that comfort he gave me. He was my absolute best friend and I never wanted any of this to happen. It was entirely my fault. My brother was a great person. Cassidy was never a great person, but I needed that comfort, but then you. You came into my life and the moment I saw you, I realized that I didn't need Cassidy. I needed a friend that listened and understood. You are that friend, Als. I'm sorry I couldn't tell you what was wrong. I was scared. I was scared you would treat me differently. The month I've known you has been the best month in a while. You send nothing but good vibes and happiness. That's what I need," I sighed.

"I really don't know what to say," she mumbled.

"You don't have to say anything, you listening was all that I needed," I smiled.

"I'm glad I could listen," she smiled.

"Ally, you're amazing in every way possible," I smiled.

"I'm here for you whenever," she blushed.

"Hey," I looked at her.

"What?" she mumbled.

"Look at me," I whispered.

"Austin…" she started to breathe heavily.

"I just want to thank you for all that you've done for me this week, but I should get to Dez," I sighed.

"Austin, it's two in the morning. You can't walk to Dez house without getting in trouble by the cops," she mumbled. "Stay here," she added.

"What will your dad say?" I looked at her.

"I won't tell him," she sighed.

"You're the worst liar ever," I looked at her.

"Fine, get in trouble by the cops…" she mumbled.

"Alright, fine, where am I staying?" I looked at her.

"I have an extra blanket in my closet, you can sleep on my floor. I'm sorry it's not the comfiest, but I don't think the two of us would fit…" she sighed.

"I don't mind the floor, Dez and I sleep on the floor all of the time," I laughed.

"Austin, wait. I feel bad. If you don't try anything, I'll share," she smiled.

"I won't, I promise," I smirked at her.

It was awkward, almost too awkward. I've never intended on coming into Ally's room and end up in bed with her. I came to tell her the truth about things. But this, this felt right

I wanted to wrap my arm around her waist, but I knew it would freak her out. She's never kissed a guy yet alone snuggle with one. All I knew is that I wanted to be Ally's first and last for everything.

It sounded wrong because she's the new girl. Usually the new people are gullible and easy to take advantage of. I've seen it happen a couple of times, but Ally. She is bright and hell. She knows how the behavior of people work, she knows how people function, she knows everything about anything. She's a genius. She's too fast paced for me, but she's too perfect to let go.

It was a risky move, but I decided to wrap my arm around her waist. I felt right.

"Austin," her breath hitched.

"I'm sorry, I won't try anything. I just need this and only this," I mumbled into her neck.

"Can I get comfortable at least?" she turned around.

"Take all the time you need," I started to drift asleep.

Ally curled up next to me and I wrapped my arms around her.

"Goodnight," she yawned.

"Night, Ally," I yawned.


	9. Confessions

I woke up holding Ally. It was such a great feeling to wake up with her next to me. I pulled out my phone to see fifteen messages from Dez. I forgot I was supposed to go over his house last night.

"_Bro, I'm going to sleep. I hope you and Ally have a nice night ;)"_

I texted Dez back saying, "_Nothing happened, I'm still at Ally's. Sorry I didn't come over, I didn't want to risk curfew. Ally and I will meet you and Trish at the food court later."_ Who am I kidding? It's eight in the morning and Dez is definitely still sleeping.

"Ally, I'm leaving in an hour!" I heard her dad say.

"Ally, wake up," I nudged her.

"AHHH," she yelped.

"Shh…" I whispered.

"Austin, you stayed," she smiled.

"Your dad is calling for you," I hushed her.

"Oh shit, uh, alright, go in my closet," she got up.

"Sneaky," I winked.

"Shut up," she whisper-yelled.

"Sorry!" I ran towards her closet.

-Ally's POV-

I thought my dad was leaving at six in the morning. Oh god, he probably heard Austin and I last night. Calm down, Ally, he would have barged in. Alright, okay, relax.

After Austin going into my closet, I walked downstairs to find my dad on the couch with his suitcase.

"Dad, I thought you were supposed to be gone already?" I looked at him.

"I was…but my flight got delayed an hour," I felt relieved.

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that," I smiled.

"Who were you talking to last night?" he looked at me.

"Oh, Austin called me last night. He was having a little crisis and I was just trying to calm him down. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have stayed up that late," I apologized.

"No, sweetie. It's fine, I thought you had Austin your room last night. I was a little worried. But I know you're telling the truth," he smiled.

"Yeah, dad, aren't you supposed to be leaving?" I looked at him.

"Oh shoot. Yes, I am. I'll see you Monday night. I love you, Ally," he hugged me.

"I love you too, dad! I talked to mom by the way. She's coming home soon," I smiled.

"That's great! I'll call her later," he smiled and walked out.

I walked back upstairs and into my room. I let out a huge sigh and collapsed onto my bed.

"Ally, can I come out now?" Austin whined.

"Right, sorry!" I laughed.

"I'm hungry," he grumbled.

"I'll make you pancakes!" I got up.

"You know me too well," he smirked.

After breakfast, we went to the food court to meet up with Dez and Trish. They were already there talking about something.

-Dez' POV-

"So, Austin was at Ally's last night?" Trish smirked.

"Yeah. I think he's really falling for her. All he talks about is her. It's getting a little annoying," I rolled my eyes.

"Ally doesn't really talk about Austin. She just talks about random stuff, like, school, her dad, her mom, people, life, and society. I think we should get them together," she smirked

"Trish, they've known each other for a month. I don't think it's time. We'll slowly do it," I smiled.

"But what if Austin doesn't want to be with Ally or vice versa? What if they're just really friendly," she asked.

"Listen, I know on Austin's behalf, he's falling for her. It's obvious. I don't know about Ally, but find out," I sighed.

"Deal," she grinned.

I know it sounds wrong, but Austin really does need someone like Ally.

"Hey guys!" Trish smiled.

"Hey," Austin grinned.

"Why were you two so late?" I looked at them.

"I had to take a shower, so Ally let me use hers," he smirked. All right Austin, cut the crap. You two obviously did something else.

"We worked on a few songs too," he admitted.

"What?" we looked at them.

"Yeah, we decided to be partners, you know, in the music business," Ally smiled.

Maybe Austin doesn't like Ally…uh oh.

"That's great! Do you need a film maker?" I asked.

"Yeah, that's what we came to talk to you guys about. Dez, I want you to be my filmmaker, and Trish, I want you to be my manager," Austin smirked.

"Does Ally have a say in this?" Trish looked at him.

"Oh, no, Trish. I'm writing songs for him. I have awful stage fright," she sighed. Yeah, Austin and Ally would never get together. He likes being on the stage and she likes to hide behind the curtain.

"You're okay with this?" Trish looked at Als.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be? Someone has to hear my songs," she glared at Austin who seemed to be nervously playing with his phone.

"Hey, I have to open up Sonic Boom. Trish, do you want to come with?" she added.

"Yeah, I'll meet you there," she got up and walked towards Ally.

I waited for them to leave so I could talk to Austin alone. Man to man, he'll have to tell me the truth

"Cut the crap, Austin. Do you like Ally?" I glared at him.

"WHAT?" Austin squeaked.

"Do. You. Like. Ally? Do I need to say it slower?" I grumbled.

"No, no, no, no definitely, no. Never, why?" He nervously looked around.

"You two have been spending a lot of time together…" I smirked.

"That doesn't mean I like her. She's a great person, Dez. She's my second best friend. You're still my first, don't worry," he laughed nervously.

"I like writing songs with her, I like that I can talk to her about anything, I like her smile, and I like her laugh," he added.

I sat there and looked at him. He's falling for her, but is in denial. You can tell when Austin is denying something, his voice gets all squeaky and he stutters a lot. That's what he's doing right now.

"Dez, stop starting at me. I don't like Ally!" he squeaked. Are you sure, Austin?

"Whatever you say, Austin," I rolled my eyes at him.

"I've known her for a month, I can't like her," he snapped.

"Austin, it was just a question, you do not have to be defensive," I laughed.

"Listen, All I did was write a few songs with her this morning. Last night was nothing; I talked to her about Matthew. That was it. I didn't leave because I couldn't risk getting caught by the cops; especially if my parents found out I was coming out of Ally's house at two in the morning. I'd never be able to see the sunlight. Ally is just a friend, nothing more, case closed," he stormed off.

Keep telling yourself that, Austin.

-Trish's POV-

"So…Ally, do you like Austin?" I smirked at her.

"NO. What," she jumped.

"Do you like Austin? It's just a question," I looked at her.

"No. Well as a friend, yes, but more than no. I think I like this boy named Elliot. I met him in my study hall a few weeks ago. We've been texting and stuff," she blushed.

"Elliot…tall, brown hair, really smart?" I tried not to laugh. I have to admit though, Elliot is really cute and Ally's type.

"Yeah, that Elliot. He wanted me to hangout last night, but I had dinner with Austin's family, which was weird. I hope he's not telling people I'm secretly his girlfriend or something between those lines. Austin's a great person, but he's just not my type. I wouldn't want to ruin our friendship anyway," she sighed. So Ally does not like Austin. Well, this just made everything harder. Dinner at Austin's house wasn't unusual at all. Many people had dinner at the Moons. They're such a sweet family.

"Hey, I'll be back in a few. I need to check in on work," I lied.

"Alright, have fun, even though your break was two hours ago," she laughed.

"I'll probably quit anyway," I yelled, walking out.

"Dez, Ally doesn't like Austin. She likes Elliot!" I snapped.

"Yeah and Austin is denying it," he groaned.

"What do we do?" I looked at him.

"Nothing. We don't do anything. They'll come to their senses one day," he laughed.

"Well, with Ally being oblivious to everything and Austin being an idiot, I don't think so," I rolled my eyes.

"Hey, Ally just moved here a few months ago. She has a reason, Austin on the other hand doesn't," he sighed.

"Dez, when did you get so mature?" I smiled.

"Last year? I don't know. The whole wearing bright, checkered pants with ridiculous shirts was getting old and tiring," he laughed.

"You've grown up a lot," I grinned.

"I'll take that as a compliment," he smirked.

"Later, freckles. I need to find Ally," I groaned.

"See ya, shorty, I need to apologize to Austin. I went too hard on him earlier," he mumbled.


	10. Summertime

-Austin's POV-

Months have passed. We were on summer vacation already. We are going to be seniors. Ally's mom hasn't come home yet. She was supposed to, but keeps delaying her trip due to her study. I feel bad about it because Ally doesn't do much anymore. Her and I work on songs and that's about it. We haven't done much at all.

Ally has a boyfriend…Yeah, she has a boyfriend…No it's not me. They've been dating since March. His name is Elliot. He's sort of a prick. I personally hate him. I've never liked him. Not because he's dating Ally, but because he's a straight up asshole. He's one of those people that think just because their GPA is over a 4.0, they're superior.

Now that I think of it, Ally and I spend less and less time together. I'm usually with Dez while Ally is usually at home or with Trish or even Elliot. But lately, she hasn't been with Trish at all, nor has she been with Elliot. She's been home. I stop by Sonic Boom quite often and ask about her. Her dad never tells me anything, he tells me that she's fine and is just overwhelmed with her AP summer packets. I don't believe any word of that.

I walked into her backyard and climbed that awful tree once again. I told myself sneaking into her room once was the worst idea, I don't know why I'm doing this now.

I sat on her ledge and knocked until she came. She looked different. She didn't have her bubbly personality; she was boring and almost lifeless.

"What are you doing here? It's midnight," she stuttered.

"Where have you been? I haven't seen you in a few weeks. You've had me worried. I thought you were dead," I whisper-yelled. She just looked at me with those big brown eyes. I could never be mad at her. One look and I get weak.

"I've been home, why?" she retorted.

"What's wrong? I know something is wrong," I looked at her. I know her well enough that I can tell something is off.

"My mom isn't coming home," she cried.

"Ally, I'm so sorry. Is she…?" I hugged her.

"Dead? No. Just really, really sick," she cried ever harder.

"How sick?"

"She's not allowed in the United States until she gets the virus or whatever she has out of her," she shut her eyes.

"Ally, she'll get better. I know she will," I pulled her closer.

"Austin, stay with me," she sobbed.

"Anything for you, Als," I smiled.

"I'm sorry you don't have a change of clothes, but I have a pair of sweatpants you let me borrow the last time I stayed at your house. You've obviously gotten taller since, but they'll still accommodate your needs," she rambled. Ally always rambled. Especially when she was anxious about something.

"Also, I'm sorry it's summer and it'll be hot and yeah. I'm sorry, I really am," she looked at me.

"It's fine, Ally. It's the thought that counts," I hugged her.

She turned around while I put on the sweatpants. They were a little too short for me, but it's better than sleeping in jeans.

Ally wore a huge shirt; it probably belonged to Elliot or her dad. Most likely her dad, because Elliot is about my size and that is definitely too big for me.

"Ally, it's really hot in your room," I groaned.

"I know. It's awful isn't it? I have about three fans on. It's this damn heat wave we're having. Austin, if you're warm you can take off your shirt. I don't mind," she mumbled.

"I was about to anyway," I smirked.

This time I was in bed with Ally was different. She didn't curl up next to me; she didn't let me hold her, or anything. I slid my arm around her waist and she jumped.

"I'm dating Elliot," her breath hitched.

"You don't seem too happy about it," I mumbled.

"No, it's just. He doesn't like you," she stuttered. Well point out the obvious Ally. Elliot and I hate each other.

"You don't love him, do you?" I glared at her.

"No, I don't believe in love," she mumbled.

"Why not?"

"I just don't. I've never felt love or had someone that loved me. Well besides my parents, you get the picture."

"Ally?" I looked at her.

"Yeah?"

"Never mind," I sighed.

"What is it?" she turned around.

"You'll find someone that loves you. Now what's really bothering you?"

"How do you feel when someone loves you? You've had a girlfriend before Cassidy, right?" I nodded at her.

"Your heart starts to race, you feel butterflies when you look at them, you never want to get their face out of your head. You want to be with them forever," I breathed heavily.

"That's not what's bothering you though" I added.

"Elliot doesn't want us to be friends…" that sentence killed me. It felt like I've been shot in the stomach more times than I could count.

"Do you love him?" I repeated.

"No. It's just I don't want to stop being your friend, but I don't want to lose him either. Austin, you're my best friend and I would do whatever it takes to change his mind," she sobbed.

"Ally, just dump that jerk. He's no good for you," I blurted out.

"What?" she looked at me.

"I hate Elliot. I'm going to flat out tell you that. I don't like him. He's a jerk, he cares about himself and only himself, he's only dating you to spite me," I hissed.

"What do you mean?" she looked at me.

"He hates me. You know why he hates me, he probably told you," she froze

"Whatever. I just miss my best friend," I stuttered.

"Austin…" she whispered.

"Listen, just forget it. Let's go to sleep," I mumbled.

"You're just making this a lot worse," she sighed.

"I'm sorry," I pulled her closer to me. "I'm so sorry."

"We'll talk in the morning. Goodnight, Austin," she sighed and rolled over.


	11. Secrets

-Ally's POV-

I woke up to the sound of Austin snoring. He was cute when he snored. Actually, he was cute in general. I can't get over the fact that Elliot hates him. I never knew that Elliot hated him.

"Austin," I nudged him. "It's morning. Let's talk."

"Ughhhhh," he groaned. "Can it wait?" he stretched.

"No! Its important," I nudged him harder.

"On a scale of 1 to 10. How important?" he sat up.

"A thousand," I emphasized 'thousand'

"Are you still mad at me?" he mumbled.

"No! I could never be mad at you.

"What is so important then?"

"Why does Elliot hate you?"

"Ugh. Ally," he grumbled. He wasn't amused at all.

"Please tell me," I glared at him.

"I don't want this to determine whether or not to pick me or Elliot," he groaned. Why would I pick Elliot over him? Austin, are you that dumb?

"I already know who I'm picking, but I'm curious."

"Well," he sighed. "Elliot and I used to be best friends, but I started to date Brooke and he got furious, so him and a few other guys came to jump Dallas, Ethan, and I. The boy, Barry, who killed my brother, is Elliot's cousin. I haven't talked to him since. We tried to make truce, but it just didn't work out.

"He seems so nice though," I groaned. I know Austin wouldn't make any of that up, but Elliot just seems so nice.

"If you want to pick Elliot go ahead. Whatever makes you happy."

"Austin, I would never pick Elliot over you. You're my best friend. You must be crazy if you thought I would choose a boyfriend over my best friend."

"Are you only picking me because you feel bad for me?" he snapped.

"No. Like I said before, I don't believe in love. Like love like that. I love you, but as a best friend. I don't love Elliot in anyway possible," I stated.

"I'm sorry," he muttered, still looking down.

"Sorry for what? You didn't do anything wrong. Why do you keep saying sorry?"

"Force of habit," he laughed.

"Ally!" I heard my dad yell.

"Yes dad?" I replied, praying he didn't hear Austin. That's the last thing I would need: getting caught with a boy in my room.

"Can you come downstairs? I have something to tell you."

"Yeah, hold on," I groaned. "Stay right here," I whispered.

I walked downstairs and immediately noticed that my dad was frustrated. He probably found out that Austin stayed over and I'll probably never see him again.

"What is it dad?" I swallowed; hoping he would not find out that Austin spent the night.

"I'm going to a conference. I need you to open up Sonic Boom later today; also, mom is coming home next week. She's a lot better," he smiled and walked out.

"Wait. Mom is coming home?" I yelled.

"Yes, she's just packing the rest of her stuff up. She'll be home on Monday. Now I really need to go. I'm running late," he said, running out the door.

-Austin's POV-

"I think I'm going to go home," I yawned. I figured I would leave Ally time to think about how she's going to break up with Elliot, plus I had a therapy appointment in an hour.

"Why? I was going to make you pancakes and we were going to watch movies," her smile immediately turned into a frown.

"I have a therapist appointment soon. I'll stop by later," I mumbled and walked out.


	12. You're Leaving?

"Austin. How are you?" Andrea asked. I don't see why I come here anymore. I can talk to Ally about these things and instantly feel better.

"I'm doing a lot better, really."

"Good enough to not come back?" she cocked her brow. I hated when she asked me questions about things like this.

"No. Maybe not every week, but maybe once a month."

"What changed you?"  
"Well I've told you about Ally. I've been spending a lot of time with her and my friends. They've been helping me a lot recently. I feel more open around them. Now that Cassidy is out of the picture, I feel as if I can focus better and I am more open to telling my friends things."

"How are things about Matthew?"

"Pretty rough. It's still hard waking up next to an empty room. None of us have gone into his room since the accident. I'm scared to. I want to go in there, but I'm scared. I don't know what I'll find in there. I wanted to ask Ally if she wanted to go with me, but I feel that's asking too much." I sighed.

"Would it make you feel better?"

"Yes. If I had someone I care deeply about, I think I could conquer anything"

"Do you care deeply about her?"

"Yes. She is my best friend. There is literally no way I could make it without her."

* * *

-Ally's POV-

"Mom! You're finally home," I cried.

"Yes, sweetie! I'm home, but for a few days," she grinned.

"Why? Where are you going next?" I asked.

"We're all going to London on vacation," she cheered. London…for the rest of the summer, that means, I'll be leaving my friends.

"Why all of us? Are we moving?" I panicked.

"No, just a little family vacation. I know how much you miss travelling. I know your father does, so him and I decided that we should go back to London to see our old house and visit Aunt Susan," she beamed. London, why wasn't I informed? "You don't look thrilled, Als. What's wrong?" she added.

"Nothing. It's just I'm surprised. I'm in shock. When do we leave?"

"Thursday, we'll be back in August. Just enough time for you to get you to get ready for school."

"Now, let me meet your friends," she smiled.

Right…friends.

-Austin's POV-

(On the phone with Ally)

"London? When are you leaving?" I panicked.

"Thursday," she sighed. Trish is out in Arizona, Dez is in Boston, and I'll be alone. When am I not alone?

"Don't go. I'll be alone until Trish or Dez come back," I pleaded.

"I don't want to go. I feel this is another way of saying that I'm moving. I really hope I'm not moving," she sobbed.

"You're not moving, but can you come over? I need to show you something," I sighed.

"Yeah, I'll be right there," she mumbled and hung up.

I didn't have anything to show Ally, it was more of a favor than anything. I knew what I was going to ask her, but I wasn't sure if she wanted to do it. Also, I'm not even sure if she broke up with Elliot.


	13. Stronger

"Austin, I'm here," she texted.

"Hey," I opened the door and saw that Elliot was waiting for her across the street. Of course, they're still together.

"I thought you and Elliot broke up?" I asked.

"No, not yet. I don't know how to tell him. What is it you wanted to show me? Elliot only has the car for another hour," she looked at me and frowned.

"It's nothing important. If you have somewhere else to go, that's fine, I understand," I mumbled.

"No, everything you say and do is important. You're important to me. Elliot can wait," she smiled.

"Ally, it'll take over an hour. I'll just show you when you get back. It's no big deal," I closed the door.

-Ally's POV-

"It's no big deal," he mumbled and closed the door. It is a huge deal. Something has been bothering him and I can't stand it.

"Elliot," I mumbled.

"Are you ready?" he cocked a brow at me.

"No, you can just go home. Something is wrong with Austin and I need to figure it out. I'm sorry, but I'll call you when I get home," I smiled.  
"I understand, Als. Call me, make sure Austin is alright," he kissed my forehead. Yeah, make sure Austin is okay. Elliot, I know you hate him.

"Austin!" I yelled. "Open the door, please," I pleaded.

"Ally, you're busy, I understand," he snapped.

"Does it look like I am busy? Where did Elliot go? He went home. I'm free all night if you need me," I whispered.

"Why would you do that?" he questioned.

"Let me in, please," I begged, ignoring his question.  
"Why would you do that?" he asked again.

"Because something has been bothering you for a while and I want to know if you're okay," I yelled.

"Come upstairs," he sighed.

"O…kay," I mumbled.

We stood there in silence for a minute or two until I realized what has been bothering him. His anniversary must be coming up.

"My brother died a year ago today, I wanted to go into his room, but I was scared. My parents locked it up for the sake of our mental health. I think I'm ready to go in though, but I didn't want to go alone. I wanted someone to go with me. My parents are out tonight, so they wouldn't do it. I figured you would be the most supportive," he bit his lip.

"I'm always here for you," I grabbed his hand. "But, I thought you said it was locked up," I looked at him.

"Yeah, it is, but I have the key. It's right here," he said, grabbing the key from the top of the door.

"Do you want to do it, or do you want me to do it?" I asked.

"I'll do it," I smiled.

From the eight months I have known Austin, he has come a long way. He's facing his problems day by day, little by little, and so on. I admire him and what he is doing. Everyday he is getting stronger and stronger. It's inspiring. Why doesn't my mom base a book off of Austin?

We walked into the room. It was a different surrounding. The walls were orange, his bed was perfectly made, his floors were clean, and you could see his floor, unlike Austin. His brother's room was neat. His brother was everything Austin wanted to be. There were awards on his wall for honor roll, basketball, baseball, hockey, and pictures of him in school plays when he was younger. Everything Austin has told me he wanted to be better at was what his brother did. They were more alike than I thought.


	14. Movies & Memories

"Austin, are you alright?" I asked.

"Yeah, it's just weird," he sighed.

"You're getting stronger day by day, I know you can get through anything."

"Thanks, Ally," he sighed, sitting on the floor.

"Anytime, I'm always here for you," I sat next to him and he looked at me. My heart started to pound. Why was I getting nervous? Austin has never made me nervous.

"Ally," he whispered.

"Austin?" I mumbled.

"Thank you," he kissed my cheek and I felt butterflies in my stomach. No one has ever made me feel that way. It couldn't be, no, it can't be.

"Why did you do that?" I stuttered.

"Sorry," he mumbled and got up.

"So…" my voice trailed off.

"So…" he whispered.

"Did you guys have any good memories in here? Like do you have any memories?" I asked him. It was such a dumb question, but if I could avoid the awkwardness, I would.

"Yeah, actually, right here," he pointed at his window. "In the summer, we would sit out on the ledge and commiserate about girls and stupid guy stuff," he smirked. "Oh, and right here, this corner. He used to have bunk beds for when his friends stayed over and he pushed me off when I was six. I had to go to the hospital and get a cast on my leg," he smiled. "And right here, where were standing," he paused and looked at me. "I would have never expected opening up to someone I met less than a year ago. I would have never expected meeting someone as fantastic as you, my brother would have loved you," he smiled at me.

"Austin, that's not a memory," I blushed.

"No, it's not, but like you said, I am getting stronger everyday. You've changed me a lot. You're my good luck charm," he grinned.

"Austin," I whispered.

"Yes?" he looked at me in confusion.

"What was your past like?"

"Rocky and depressing," he mumbled.

"No, before Matthew's death."

"Oh, well, my family has a mattress company, but you knew that. Anyway, every summer, we would go to our vacation home in Cape Cod and my brother and I would stay out late and just hangout. In the winter, we would go to Vermont for part of winter vacation. When Matthew died, we stopped doing that. My family now spends time at the mattress store or out doing things. They worry a lot about me. They haven't been as worried since I became closer to you guys," he paused. "I am pretty much the same now as I was before, just angstier and upset," he chuckled.

"Can I ask you something?" he looked at me and nodded.

"If you were still dating Cassidy, would we be friends?"

"Of course, I'd always pick my friends over a girlfriend. I don't care how amazing they are, friends and family always come first," he grinned. "Why do you ask?"

"Just the whole Elliot thing," I lied.

"Really? Is that it?"

"No. It's just that, what if we were dating?" I mumbled.

-Austin's POV-

"What if we were dating?" she mumbled. What did she mean by that?

"What do you mean if we were dating?" I stuttered.

"You know, you said friends and family over a girlfriend. Cassidy wasn't a friend to you, nor was Brooke or any others. Why would happen if we dated? You know, would it be hard if we broke up?" she rambled.

"It would be really weird if we dated," I lied. It wouldn't be weird at all; I would feel a lot better if I was dating Ally than any other girl.

"You think I'm weird?" she looked at me and frowned.

"No. You're not weird at all. In fact, you're perfect. You're talented, smart, funny, caring, and beautiful," I mumbled.

"You think I'm perfect? Austin, half of the school thinks I'm a freak. They think I'm some foreign exchange student. That's not perfect. I have stage fright, I chew my hair when I'm nervous, I read for fun, I never go to parties, I'm not a regular teenager. I don't go to parties and get drunk. I'm not the stereotypical girl like everyone else in Marino," she rambled.

"That's why you're perfect. You're different. Ally they're little flaws. Who cares if you have stage fright, you'll get over it someday, I know you can. Also, it's a good thing you're not like a stereotypical teenage girl; I wouldn't be talking to you. I wouldn't be opening up to you. Different is good, normal is bad," I laughed.

"Anyway, enough about me, tell me about you," she quickly changed the subject.

"I thought you knew everything about me? I know everything about you. Some best friend," I scoffed, and she grinned.

"No! Like, how you are doing now, considering where we are now," she smiled.

"Oh! It's strange being in here, but I feel better. I feel like an elephant has been lifted off of my chest. Once again, thank you. Should you be getting to Elliot?" I frowned.

"Forget Elliot. You're way more important than him. Also, is it possible I can spend the night? My parents are out and won't be home until late. I sort of told them I was going to your house anyway," she mumbled.

"Sure, you're always welcomed here. Plus, I'll get to see you before you leave for London in two days," I grinned at her.

"You're seeing me right now," she laughed.

"You know what I mean."

"I know," she smirked. "What would have happened if I never moved to Miami?" she added.

"I don't think I would be in this room right now. I don't think I would have broken up with Cassidy. I don't think I'd be as close as I was to Trish and Dez. There's a lot of things that wouldn't have changed, but I'm glad they did," I replied. "Why are you asking me all of these questions anyway?"

"Its just I won't be home until August…" she mumbled. That's a month. She'll be gone for a month. I thought she was only going to be there for a few weeks.

"A month?"

"Yes, a whole month. I'm just going to miss you so much. I'll write you letters everyday and I'll buy you souvenirs. We'll Skype and everything."

"Are you going to write to Elliot too?"

"No. Why would I? I think I should break up with him…" she sighed.  
"That would be a good decision."

"But how?"

"That's all up to you, Als." I sighed. "Why do you want to break up with him anyway? Because of me?

"No. Sort of, it's complicated. It's just like, well, you see," she stuttered.

"Nothing is complicated. If you don't want to tell me, that is fine, I understand. Just don't let me impact your choice," I smirked, reaching for the door.

"Where are you going?"

"Outside of this room and into mine, if you would like to join me."

"Can we watch a movie?"

"Of course, have any suggestions?"

"No, you pick."

"Do you like scary movies?" I asked.

"I don't know…" she sighed.

"Alright, come here, we're watching one," I laughed.


	15. Falling Hard

"Austin, this is terrifying," she whispered.

"Come here," I motioned her towards me. Ally quickly curled into a ball onto my lap. "I'm sorry, this was a bad choice," I apologized.

"No, don't be! I'm just not used to this stuff. I'll adjust to it, I swear I will," she sighed and rested her head in the crook of my neck.

"Are you sure? I can turn it off. We can watch something else," I suggested.

"No, it's fine, just let me get used to it…Austin! What is this man doing?" she freaked out.

"I got you, Als. Although, my hand is losing blood circulation," I laughed.

"I'm sorry," she laughed. "Actually, can you turn it off? It's midnight and I'm starting to get tired. I don't want to fall asleep and having to hear chainsaws," she mumbled.

"Of course, princess," I laughed and turned the TV off.

"Also, don't let go," she smiled.

"You're so demanding," I laughed and she grinned.

Ally and I have had sleepovers before, but tonight seemed different. It seemed like she didn't want to forget me. Maybe she was moving or maybe she wanted to be more than friends. I have no idea, but it was weird. What we're doing right now is wrong. Technically, she isn't cheating on Elliot with me because we haven't done anything and I doubt she was planning to tonight.

"Goodnight, Als," I kissed her forehead.

"Goodnight, Austin," she mumbled and curled up closer to me.

-Ally's POV-

Part of me is falling for Austin, but the other part has to remember we're just friends and only friends. We cannot be anything else.


	16. Packing

I woke up and tried to get up, but I was stuck. Austin still had his arm around me and his head was rested on my shoulder. I looked over at his clock and read that it was ten in the morning. I had to go home and pack for London. My parents are probably worried at me, but then again I told them I was at Austin's.

I maneuvered my way out of his arms and slowly walked out of his room. I left a note telling him that I had to go home and pack, he should understand, right?

-Austin's POV-

It was noon and I just woke up. Ally was gone or maybe she was downstairs. She was most likely downstairs watching television or playing piano. I got up and walked downstairs, but she wasn't there. All I saw was a note from Ally.

"_10:40 AM and you're still asleep, sleepyhead. _

_I had to go home and pack, you're welcomed to stop over and join me._

_We're having baked ziti for dinner (your favorite)_

_Call me when you're awake. _

_-Ally"_

"Austin, sweetie, we're home from Jacksonville," Mom yelled from the garage.

"Hey guys, I was just about to go out. Do you need any help?" I asked.

"No, we ordered twelve new mattresses for the store. We're about to unload them right now. Where are you going?" dad asked.  
"To Ally's," I mumbled.

"Again? Weren't you there a few nights ago?" mom smiled.

"Yeah, but she's leaving. I'm helping her pack," I sighed.

"The Dawson's are moving? Why didn't Penny and Lester tell us?" mom frowned.

"No, they're going on vacation in London for the rest of the month."

"Oh! Well, tell the Dawson's we said for them to have fun," Dad smiled.

"I will, dad."

I drove to Ally's house after I showered and got dressed.

-Ally's POV-

"Elliot," I sighed.

"What's wrong? Did you make it home okay last night? I tried calling you but your phone was off," he grumbled.

"Yeah, sorry, I stayed over Trish's house," I lied. I was getting better at this lying thing. Trish wasn't even in Miami anyway, she was in Arizona.

"Then what's the problem?" he looked at me.

"Us. We're the problem," I frowned.

"I don't understand, why are we a problem?"

"Listen, you're a great person, but if you're going to make me pick between you and Austin, then it can't work. There is nothing going in between Austin and I. You know he's been through a lot, he needs a friend and Dez, Trish, and I are his friends. We're there for him a lot and if you can't accept that then I guess this is it," I mumbled.

"I get it, Als. Listen, I'm sorry for being jealous. I really do not have a problem with Austin, I did at first, but I know you guys are friends and I just have to accept that," he smiled.

"I'm sorry, I really am, but this is it," I sighed.

"We're breaking up?"

"I'm sorry, I really am. I'm going to London tomorrow and I feel it will be the best."

"You're going to London? Why didn't you tell me?"

"It slipped my mind, I've been thinking of other things. Elliot, it is over, what do you not understand?" I snapped. I had a funny feeling that Austin was here because I saw his car in my driveway.

"Hey Ally, hey Elliot," Austin smirked, walking through my door. "Am I interrupting something?" he added, glaring at Elliot.

"No, no, I was just leaving," Elliot grumbled and got up.

"Once again, I'm sorry, Elliot. I'd like to be friends though," I smiled.

"Sure, we'll talk when you get home from London," he sighed.

"Bye, Elliot," I mumbled.

"Later, Elliot," Austin smirked.

"Ally, Austin, I'll see you in school," he said and slammed the door.

"Bad timing," I laughed.

"What happened? Did he hurt you?"

"No, I broke up with him. I don't think he took that well at all, but oh well, why are you here anyway?" I grinned.

"Baked ziti at the Dawson's house, oh, and you left this at my house," he laughed handing me my phone.

"Thank you, Austin. I thought you were going to help me pack," I pouted.

"Yeah, that too, but baked ziti is my favorite, besides pancakes," he laughed.

"Ally, we're home!" Dad yelled from the living room.

"Hey guys, Austin just arrived," I smiled.

"Ahh! Austin, you're staying for baked ziti?" mom laughed.

"Of course! Also, my parents told me to tell you to enjoy your trip to London tomorrow," he smiled.

"Well, thank you to the Moons. That reminds me, we should call Mike and Mimi," Mom grinned.

"I'm going to go pack, Austin came here to help me," I smiled and grabbed his hand.

"Penny," I heard my dad say.

"What Lester?"

"Do you think Ally has been spending too much time with Austin?" he whispered.

"A little, but that's only because Trish and Dez have been away," she replied.

"But Ally hasn't had a boyfriend," I heard my dad mumble.

"Yeah she has, she has been dating that Elliot boy for the past couple of months."

"She told you?"

"Yes, a daughter tells her mother everything," she laughed.

"Then why has she been spending a lot of time with Austin?"

"I think she likes him," I heard my mom squeal.

"Ally?" I heard Austin say.

"Sorry, what?" I asked.

"You were spacing out, what's wrong?"

"Nothing. Nothing is wrong, let's get packing," I laughed.


	17. Reasons

-Austin's POV-

I looked around her room and saw that her bags were already packed. Why the hell did she want me to come over?

"So you didn't need help packing?" I asked.

"No, sorry. I actually really needed to talk to you about something," she locked her door.

"Why did you lock your door?" I looked at her suspiciously.

"Sorry, force of habit," she stuttered.

"Alright…" I said, looking at her.

"What did you need to talk about?"

"I've been thinking long and hard about this and I broke up with Elliot for a reason," she sighed.

"Because he's a jerk?" I laughed.

"Well yes, but because I didn't like the way he talked about you to me and I didn't like the way he talked to me sometimes. I figured you'd be the person I can go to about this because we're there for each other."

"What did he say to you? I don't care what he said about me, but did he hurt you?"

"He just wanted to take it farther and I didn't want to. He would drop hints when we would hangout and stuff and I wasn't ready at all. I've never even kissed a guy yet alone take the next step," she started to cry. "He tried to kiss me so many times and I just don't what to do, do I tilt my head or. I just don't know, Austin. I felt pressured."

"Ally, I'm going to kick his ass. No one deserves to be forced into something they don't want to do. Why didn't you tell me earlier?" I questioned, holding her.

"I was going to tell you, but I figured you'd say something and I didn't want you guys to fight again. Especially over me, I worry about you a lot, Austin. In fact, I'm worried about leaving you for a month." Why was she so worried? I'm finally in the right mental state. She told me she would never treat me differently than she used to.

"Ally, why are you treating me differently? Why are you so worried about me?" I said, trying not to get frustrated.

"It's just I care about you deeply, and I know Trish and Dez will be away for a while still and I just feel bad leaving you here in Miami. If I could take you to London with me, I totally would," she rambled.

"Never worry about me, I'll be fine on my own. I've been alone for the past year; I think I can handle a month," I laughed.

We sat there in silence for a couple of minutes.

"I think dinner is ready," I added to break the silence.

"Right, thank you for listening to me," she hugged me.

"That's what friends are for," I sighed.


	18. Casual Encounters

Ally left for London this morning and that means I'm home alone. My parents are out at the mattress store, Trish is in Arizona, and Dez is in Rhode Island. I could always hangout with Harry or Luke, but they're probably away. Dallas is home; maybe I'll hangout with him.

"Austin?" Dallas yawned.

"Hey man, do you want to go surfing later today?" I asked.

"Yeah, it'll be great to catch up," he yawned again.

"Sweet, I'll see you around noon?"

"Yeah, I'll meet you at the surf shack around twelve-ten," he said.

"See ya, man."

"Later, Austin," he said and hung up.

* * *

"Austin Moon, my man," Dallas laughed, pulling me into a bro-hug.

"Dallas Moore, my man," I smiled.

"How have you been? I know last year was rough," he gave me a sympathetic smile.

"I've been pretty well, you know, I've been doing better," I smiled.

"I know you broke up with Cassidy, thank God. You dating anyone now?" he asked.

"Nope. Single, what about you?" I looked at him.

"Yeah, I'm dating Veronica Chapman," he laughed.

"Ah, Veronica, she's very…interesting," I laughed.

"Real interesting. Hey, did you hear that Ally has been dating Elliot?" he frowned.

"It sucks, doesn't it? He's such a douchebag," I rolled my eyes.

"He is such an asshole, man, I hope he doesn't hurt Ally," he sighed.

"I'll kick his ass if he does," I smirked.

"Speak of the devil," Dallas rolled his eyes.

"Dallas, Austin," Elliot sneered at us.

"What do you want, Elliot," Dallas hissed.

"Why did Ally break up with me?" he glared at me.

"No idea, Elliot. I'm sorry for your loss," I rolled my eyes.

"Oh, Moon, you know why. Why were you at her house last night?" he snapped.

"I was helping her pack for London because Trish was gone," I sighed.

"Man, Elliot, can you just drop your hate for us and go back to arts and crafts camp?" Dallas yelled.

"No, Austin, you can't get everything you want all of the time. Ally doesn't want you. She would never want to date you. She thinks you're too fucked up to date," he sneered.

"Oh, what bullshit," Dallas snapped. "They're best friends. I doubt Ally would talk shit on Austin," he started to yell.

"Think about it, Austin. She had the opportunity to stay here in Miami, but she left, probably to leave you," he yelled.

"Elliot, stop being an asshole and go weave a basket or some shit," I snapped.

"Would Ally like you fighting? What about your mental stability Austin," he glared.

"Yo, seriously, Elliot, I'm five seconds away from punching you," Dallas hissed.

"And Dallas, how is Veronica, the last time I checked, she was cheating on you with Luke," he smirked.

"That's fucking it," Dallas snapped, punching Elliot.

I stood there watching. I wanted to join in so badly, but if Ally found out, she would be furious and worry more about me.

"Are you going to fuck up this clown or no?" Dallas hissed.

"Ally wouldn't like that, Austin," Elliot hissed, punching Dallas.

"That's fucking it, seriously, Elliot get the fuck out of here," I yelled punching him.

Dallas and I made a great team fighting against Elliot. Within minutes, we took him down.

"Austin, you're a fucking psycho. If you truly cared about Ally, you'd stay away from her," Elliot sneered and ran off.


	19. Plans?

"Don't listen to him, he's a little shit anyway," Dallas panted.

"I'm not. Elliot doesn't have anything on me," I sighed. "Let's go surfing," I added.

"Man, I'm a little too tired for that, wanna just play video games at my house?" Dallas laughed.

"Yeah, that sounds better."

"Why did Elliot keep bringing Ally into that?" he asked.

"He thinks Ally and I were sleeping together when they were dating," I rolled my eyes and sighed.

"Did you guys?" he smirked.

"Nope. Probably not planning on it. Ally's one of those girls who wants things to be extremely romantic and I'm obviously not. I doubt we'd even date to be honest. She's too good for me," I sighed.

"Really? I think you guys look great together, seriously man, I think you guys should go out. I'd hurry up too; Derek has his eyes on her. I mean, she's beautiful," he laughed.

"Remember when you asked her out?" I laughed.

"Yeah, she rejected me. She said that someone told her I had a bad reputation with girls, which is not true. Veronica and I have been dating for a solid three months," he sighed. "Hey, have you heard from Cassidy?" he looked at me.

"No, she never goes to school anymore," I replied. That was strange, she never showed up anymore.

"Yeah, she's homeschooled now. When you guys broke up, she went all psychotic and started hanging out with Elliot…wait, her and Elliot, you don't think," he looked at me.

"What do you mean?"

"What if Elliot only dated Ally to spite you? You know, throwing you off the edge of your sanity and flipping out in front of Ally, so then she'd stop being your friend and then you'd get back with Cassidy?"

"That's crazy. I doubt it anyway, they would never think of something like that, especially Cassidy," I laughed.

"Just think about it. It could be a possibility…"  
"Do you know something I don't?" I questioned.

"Sort of, I'll tell you when we reach my house, which is about now," he sighed.

"What do you know that I don't?"

"I overheard Elliot talking about how he wanted to sleep with Ally to throw you off the edge. Knowing you guys were good friend, she would tell you and then you'd freak out on him and yeah," he sighed.

"What an asshole. Why would he want to hurt Ally like that? He can fuck with me all he wants, but if Ally is involved, then there's going to be problems," I yelled.

"I say we kill him," Dallas laughed.

"Yeah, seriously," I rolled my eyes.

-Ally's POV-

"Austin,

I miss you! London will always be the same place to me: the same streets, the same homes, and the same sights. It's nothing out of the ordinary. Anyway, how are you? Only 27 more days until I am home to see all of you!

Love, Ally"

Love, why love? It's not because I love him or anything. I don't believe in love. Maybe I do, maybe I don't, who knows.

-Austin's POV-

"Austin, why are you limping and why do you have a bruise near your jaw?" my mom shrieked.

"What? I do?" I panicked.

"Yes!" she handed me a mirror.

"Holy sh-poop," I yelped.

"What happened?" she yelled.

"I went surfing with Dallas yesterday, I fell off of my board," I lied.

"Surfing is dangerous, why don't you do something else?" she suggested.

"I haven't surfed in a while, I'm just rusty at it," I sighed.

"A letter came from you today," she smiled and went into the kitchen.

I opened the letter and it was from Ally. It took a week for it to arrive, which means, she'll be home in 20 days. I hope she doesn't find out about the fight that would be terrible.

I've been hanging out with Dallas for the past week. It's nice catching up to him and just hanging out. Dez is coming home today and we were going to go over and hang. Instead, the three of us are going to a party tonight.

* * *

**Hey hey hey! Sorry this is a short chapter. I'll probably end up fixing this along with a few other chapters later this week or weekend!**

**ALSO, Thank you to LoveShipper for all the lovely reviews :)**


	20. Tilly's

"Tilly's parties are always the best," Dez beamed.

"You alright?" Dallas asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine." The fight over Brooke occurred at Tilly's party last year. I'm hoping that Elliot isn't there. Him and his crew are the worst, especially when they're drunk.

"Ethan?" Dez yelled.

"Hey guys," Ethan smiled. After the whole fight last year, Ethan stayed away from most of us, it wasn't his choice though, his mom didn't want him hanging out with us.

"Look who it is, Ethan, is back," Dallas yelled.

"The crew is back again," I smiled.

"And I guess Elliot's crew is here too," Dez whispered.

"Great," I muttered.

"Who cares? Ethan is back, let's party," Dallas yelled, grabbing a can.

"You want one?" Dallas asked.

"Yeah, sure," I smiled.

"The old Austin is back," Ethan cheered.

-Dez' POV-

"The old Austin is back," Ethan cheered.

The old Austin, also known as the Austin I hated sometimes. The Austin who was extremely cocky, blunt, and rude. Don't get me wrong, Austin has been my best friend forever, but this isn't going to be a fun night. Sober Austin is the best Austin. Drunken Austin is like I said before: cocky, blunt, and rude. Austin has been doing so well this past year. Ally really has helped him through all of this and I hate to see all of her good work wash away down the booze tube.

"Dez, you going to have one?" Austin handed me a beer.

"Duh! Just give me a second," I laughed. "Where is Ally anyway? I thought you were going to bring her?" I added.

"London for a whole month," he frowned.

"Dez," Dallas whispered. "Elliot said some things to Austin the other day and they've been eating him alive. His mental stability has gone down in the pats week."

"Seriously? What did he say?"

"Stuff like Austin doesn't deserve him, he's psychotic, he should stay away from her, and etcetera."

"What a dirtball," I spat.

"Literally, speak of the devil," he groaned.

"Elliot is here," Austin groaned

"Drunken Austin? Ally would love that," Elliot smirked.

"Man, just get out of here," I yelled.

"Fisher, you're back, welcome," Elliot smiled.

"Elliot, I am sick of your little game, can we just call it truce?" Dallas groaned.

"Not until blondie stays away from Ally," he hissed.

"She isn't yours," Austin rebutted. "She was never yours. You only wanted to date her to spite me and guess what, it didn't work," he fought back.

"Austin, let's get out of here before something bad happens," Ethan mumbled.

"You're right, Ethan. Elliot isn't worth the time," Austin started to walk away, but Elliot grabbed him.

"God dammit," Ethan muttered.

"Here we go again," Dallas sighed.

"Again?" I looked at him.

"Yeah, they fought a week ago. Austin kicked his ass, but Barry is here and we know what happened to Matthew," he groaned.

"Barry…you know, _the Barry_" Ethan's voice trembled.

"Yeah, that Barry. Man, what has Austin gotten himself into. Why is he like this?" Dallas grumbled, starting at Austin.

"Because Ally isn't here. She keeps him on the ground," I replied.

"Wait, are you serious?" they looked at me.

"Yeah, she's the reason why he's doing a lot better. I think he's in love with her," I laughed.

"Should we help him?" Dallas asked.

"I can't get in a fight," Ethan replied.

"Neither can I," I sighed.

"I can't afford to get in one either," Dallas sighed.

* * *

"Guys, break this apart before I call the cops," Tilly screamed.

"Not until Austin stops being a little prick," Elliot yelled.

"I am not being a prick," he rebutted. "You treated Ally poorly," he yelled.

"Austin, Elliot, seriously guys, stop this," Tilly butted in, breaking up the fight.

"Why are they even fighting again?" I heard a boy say.

"Because our old pal Elliot here, tried to sleep with Ally to spite Austin," Dallas said sarcastically.

"Elliot, you are disgusting! Get out of my house," Tilly yelled.

"You know what, Tilly? I don't care. I'm not leaving until Austin agrees to stay away from Ally," he hissed.

"Fine, I'll stay away from her," he sighed in defeat. It wasn't a sarcastic sigh though, it was a genuine sigh. A sigh of actual defeat. Austin is going to let Ally slip out of his hands like that.

"Perfect. By the way, great party Tilly," Elliot muttered and left with his crew.

"Austin, man, why are you doing this? Fight him," Luke yelled.

"I'm not going to fight him. It's pointless. I'm not going to let someone ruin my life," he said, reaching for the door. Within seconds, Austin was already across the street.

"Should one of us go check on him?" Tilly asked.

"Nah, he'll be fine. He's probably just cooling off. What danger could he possibly be in? He's right across the street from here," Dallas said, but then thought about it. "Actually, yeah, someone check on him. Elliot might be around still," he added.

"I'll go do it," I volunteered.

* * *

**I'm really sorry this chapter was so bad :(**

**Also, Hazel-Pasta, I have no idea! LoveShipper loves me I guess hehe. BUT OMG NO I LOVE YOUR RANDOMNESS :D ALSO THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU :3**

**and I also like pasta at five!**


	21. Admit It

"Austin," I yelled.

"What, Dez? I'm not in the mood," he yelled.

"What's wrong with you?"

"Nothing is wrong with me. I am perfectly fine. Why does everyone think there's a problem with me?" he snapped.

"Because Ally isn't here," I muttered.

"Why is Ally always in this?" he glared.

"Because you're in love with her and you know it."

"I don't love Ally," he whispered.

"Yes you do. You're head over heels in love with her, Austin."

"That's ridiculous"  
"Is it?" I looked at him. "You can't name one thing you love about her?"

"Well, I like her smile, her laugh, I can tell her anything, her hugs, I like that her hand fits perfectly into mine, I like how she has been there for me for a lot of things, and she just gives me this feeling that no one has ever made me feel. When I see her, my heart beats rapidly and I just want to kiss her. Dez, I think I am in love with Ally," he mumbled.

"Told you," I grinned.

"What do I do? He sighed, sitting down on the porch step.

"You can tell her and see how she reacts or you can just leave it be," I suggested.

"Should I really stay away from her?" he questioned.

"No. If you're in love with someone, you should be with them," I smirked.

"Thanks, man, but what is she going to say when she finds out I fought Elliot twice?"

"She'll have to hear the whole story, which Dallas and I would be happy to explain to her."

"Man, I missed you," he smiled.

"You too, bud."

* * *

**Hi I'm sorry this is somewhat a filler chapter**


	22. Heathrow

Ally's POV

You know, I never really enjoyed travelling. It made me realize how much of my childhood I have missed. The realization that I did not have friends my whole life, that I never had the full teenage experience, and most importantly, having my first crush.

Of course I liked Elliot at one point, but he was not much of a crush to me. I remember Trish constantly observing every move, look, and touch shared between Austin and I. Later on, she would tell me that Austin and I were meant to be together. Its just Austin and I are so, ugh, how do you put it, different?

He likes cheerleaders, pancakes, horror movies, video games, and most importantly, performing in front of others. I like reading, cloud watching, writing in my journal, and hiding behind the curtain. We were different in so many ways, yet we _are_ perfect for each other.

The drive was longer than I could remember. I forgot how far Aunt Susan lived from the Heathrow airport. I was anxious to see her, but was not at the same time.

"Ally! Put your phone away, you know how Aunt Susan is," Mom whisper-yelled. Aunt Susan wasn't the nicest lady, but she wasn't the meanest either. She thought that electronics corrupted the teenage mind. She felt that calling each other on the phone was the best way of communication. Aunt Susan and I bonded so much when we lived in London; she was like a second mother to me.

"Ally, sweetheart! You've grown up to much," Susan ran over, squeezing me into a hug.

"Hello," I managed to smile, although, all I really wanted to do was sleep.

"You look tired, did you get any sleep?" She laughed, making her way over to my mom and dad.

"Penny, darling, how are you? Have you lost weight? You look ridiculously thin," she scolded. Aunt Susan was always on my mom's case about something. Hey, they're sisters, what are you going to do about it?

"I've been sick, especially when I was observing gorillas in Africa. I was sick for a while, but I'm doing well now," she managed to smile. It was funny; mom and Susan would easily get annoyed with one another, but still loved each other.

"Lester, or should I say Chester, you still in that couponing club?" Susan laughed, causing my dad to get embarrassed.

"Well, Chester, the cheap gorilla is now running a successful music store in Miami," he retorted. Ever since my mom returned from Africa, Dez, Austin, and the rest of the world have been calling my dad Chester the cheap gorilla. Apparently my mom observed a stingy gorilla named Chester, but we all know that Chester was made up, including my dad.

Before we went to Aunt Susan's, mom and dad felt it was necessary to visit our old house. When we reached the house, all of these memories that I wanted to forget came back, almost as if they were haunting me.

-Flashback-

"_Penny, this was a terrible idea bringing Ally here. She is twelve, what makes you think a little girl like her would want to be moving every year?" My dad yelled._

"_We all knew it was coming, Lester. If you don't think it is right for Ally then you raise her. You teach her, you grade her papers, and you explain everything to her. I've been doing this for twelve years. You've been obsessing over when your next sale was going to be. When you were going to make this much money. You care more about the money than the family," Mom hollered. _

"_You know what, Lester. Forget it, you raise Ally. I'm already behind on my studies," she added and left. _

_My dad walked up the steps into my room and looked at me. He was absolutely furious. _

"_Ally? Why don't you speak?" he yelled. I looked at him and shook my head. I was scared, too scared to speak up._

"_I knew homeschool was a bad idea. Your mother is ruining you," he spat and slammed my door. _

-End-

"Ally? Are you alright?" Mom asked.

"Yes," I lied. "It's just weird being back to one of our numerous homes," I faked a laugh.

"She probably just misses her friends," my dad added.

"Ally, you finally made friends? I thought you were homeschooled still," Aunt Susan scoffed.

"No, I attend regular school," I mumbled.

"I see her social skills still are not the strongest," Susan sneered.

"I've been here for a week and all you have done is point out every single flaw I have. Do you ever have anything nice to say about someone? Why don't you start off with something nicer like, 'Oh, Ally, are you still homeschooled or are you going to regular school now?' That was way more polite than, 'Ally, you finally made friends?' Do you know how hard it was moving into a completely new surrounding and starting your life from scratch? What about for four years?" I snapped. It wasn't like me to freak out, but I felt it was necessary.

"Ally, what is wrong with you? You've been crabby the whole time here," Mom raised her voice.

"She's a teenager, Penny. She will be like that," Susan grumbled.

For the next couple of weeks my mom and dad avoided me as much as they could, they didn't want to, but Aunt Susan felt it was necessary. She would call me a brat and correct me on everything I did.

I roamed the streets of London by myself, buying postcards to mail to Austin, Dez, and Trish. My mom and dad would try to apologize for being harsh on me, but I learned the difference between a sincere and a fake apology. It was obvious that their apologies were fake.

They didn't know what to do with me because I was a teenager and especially because I have been hanging out with Austin on a daily basis. My mom and Susan would try and sit me down to have the talk. You know, _the talk_. Sometimes I swore Aunt Susan thought I was dumb. When in reality, I am ahead of my class and in all AP classes.

The last week in London was a lot better. My mom, dad, and Susan gave me a sincere apology. The explained how scary it was for me to be growing up and they didn't know what to do. It still doesn't make up for the fact that my life was semi-normal for twelve years.

For those who were unaware of everything: I was born and raised in Chicago until I was five. We moved from Chicago to New York, and then when I was twelve, everything changed.

Leaving London and going home was the greatest thing all day. Although Austin hasn't answered me at all, worried me, but he was probably busy with something.


	23. Home

Ally's POV

Returning home from London made me realize how much I hated travelling. I wasn't used to it anymore. I was used to walking a mile down the road to school and back home, or even walking a mile or two to Austin's house from Sonic Boom. Austin has not returned any of my phone calls since I landed and Trish was still away. I was eager to do something, so I asked Dez to hangout with me. I have never hung out with Dez by myself before, but from what I heard from Austin and Trish, he is a really funny guy to be around. Although I already knew Dez was funny, but I guess he is funnier when it's just him and another person?

"Hey, Dez! How was Rhode Island?" I smiled, hugging him.  
"It was cool, nothing special, how was London?"

"Stupid. I have all of these souvenirs for Austin, but he hasn't answered me. Is he alright?" I asked in concern. I'm worried about Austin, especially by the look of Dez' face, I am even more worried than I was before.

"Actually, I was going to visit Austin today, he isn't feeling too well. Would you care to join me?" he faked a smile. It was clear that Dez knew something that I did not, but I guess I was about to get to the bottom of it.

"Is he alright?" I asked.

"You'll see," he mumbled.

We started walking in the opposite direction of Austin's house. Instead we were going to someone else's home, which I assumed was Dez', but it wasn't. Instead, we were at Dallas' home.

"What happened?" I shrieked.

"Yesterday Dallas and Austin went surfing and Elliot and his little gang jumped both of them," Dez sighed.

"Does Austin's parents know?" I trembled, feeling the tears run down my face.

"Yeah, they called the cops and everything, but Austin didn't want to go home last night, so he crashed at Dallas' house," he explained.

"You know we can hear you guys," Dallas groaned. I felt bad for Dallas, he seemed so innocent. I don't understand why Elliot would go after Dallas.

"Are you two alright? Do you need me to get anything?" I asked.

"I'm fine, Als. I have no idea about Moon, but I'm fine. Thank you though," Dallas smiled at me. I haven't seen Dallas all summer, why was he suddenly hanging out with Austin and Dez?

"What happened though? Why did Elliot do this?" I questioned, still unsure on why Elliot would do such a thing to Austin, and especially Dallas.

"Austin do you want to tell her?" Dallas groaned.

"Nope, you can, it'll be better from you than me," he groaned in pain.

"Austin can you even walk?" Dez asked.

"Yeah, I can walk, but I'm just really tired," he yawned. I felt bad for Austin, he looked so broken down and sore. He claimed he wasn't as broken as I assumed. He had minor cuts on his arms, a few bruises on his legs, surprisingly, Elliot didn't touch his face. Dallas on the other hand looked at mess. I knew Dallas was defenseless in someway. He had a black eye, cuts all over him, and bruises all along his torso.

"Austin, are you even aware that Ally is here?" Dallas laughed.

"Yes," he grumbled, looking in the opposite direction.

"Austin-" I started to speak, but was shortly interrupted by him.

"Ally, go home," he got up and nudged me towards the backdoor.

"What?" I choked.

"Elliot threatened Austin two weeks ago at Tilly's party telling him to stay away from you, but then Austin realized that-" Dez started to speak, but Austin quickly ran over to Dez and glared.

"Austin realized what?" I looked at him.

"Ally, can I talk to you outside? Alone? Where there is no one around?" he groaned, still not taking his eyes off of Dez.

"Yeah…" I swallowed. I had no idea what Austin was intending on telling me, but it didn't sound good at all.

* * *

"Dez I will punch you if you tell her," I heard him mutter under his breath.

"Do you not want me to be your friend anymore?" I whisper-yelled, holding back the tears.

"No, Ally, I want to be your friend, but in order to protect you, I can't. I don't want Elliot hurting you in anyway. I care about you a lot," his solid expression, suddenly turned into a frown.

"If you cared about me, you'd stay with me," I leaned into his chest, expecting him to wrap his arms around me, but he didn't. He just stood there, looking down at me.

"I don't want Elliot to hurt you though," he mumbled.

"While I was in London I've been thinking about how much I missed you and I just wanted to come home to see you, but now, I don't know what I want to do. We're music partners and best friends, I don't know what I'd do without you, losing you would be losing a huge part of me," I started to cry.

"Ally, I'll always be there for you, but not right now, just stay away from me until Dez, Dallas, and I figure all of this out," he whispered, kissing my left temple.

It's a funny thing with Austin. One minute he's perfectly fine, another minute, he is completely frustrated, and then another minute, he's all lovey dovey.

"Why though?"

"Because Elliot doesn't want us hanging out and Barry's been around, I don't want him to hurt you in anyway."

"But, I'll be fine. I'm worried about you. I don't want him hurting you."

"See, you're too worried about me. Ally, I'll be fine now, I promise. All I need to know is that you'll always be my friend no matter what," he kissed my forehead.

"This is my fault. None of this would have happened if I just stayed with Elliot. This is my fault. It's my fault that him and his group jumped you and Dallas. It's entirely my fault. Austin, I'm so sorry, I'll leave you alone," I sighed and walked towards home.

Austin's POV

"What are we going to do about Elliot though?" Dallas sighed.

"My mom called the cops, but I doubt they'd do anything," I grumbled.

"Where is Ally?" Dez asked.

"I told her to leave. She thinks this is all of her fault, but it's not. It's mine, I started the fights in the first place," I plopped myself onto the sofa, sighing.

"Austin, you just let a perfectly good girl slip away. What the hell is wrong with you?" Dallas said, throwing a pillow at me.

"I didn't want Elliot to hurt her in anyway. If he hurts anyone, it should be me."

"Austin go after her, despite what's going to happen, go after her. You love her. You're in love with her," Dallas smirked.

"It's too late, she went home," I sighed.

"Run after her, now," Dez yelled.

"I'm not until all of this gets settled. I don't want her involved in this. This isn't any of her business. I don't want Ally involved in this," I yelled back.


	24. Eavesdropping

**Hi everyone :) Thank you for reviewing and favoriting this story :D This is one of the few chapters that are left of this story :( nooo!**

**Anywayyyys, thank you to LoveShipper for ALWAYS reviewing. Also, thank you to Riax0, allision, xRainbowNinjax, and AUSTINALLY FAN. You all are the BEST**

**Okay okay okay! Sorry if this chapter is kind of sucky. **

**(oh and also, the next chapter is angsty ha ha!)**

* * *

Ally's POV

"I don't want Ally involved in this," I heard him yell.

"But you love her," I heard Dallas yell.

"Yeah, but that's not the point. If Elliot hurts her in anyway because of me, I'll kill that asshole. Ally deserves a guy who cares about her and didn't want to use her to spite someone," Austin hollered.

Austin is in love with me. That explains why he's been acting weird around me and why he has been so protective. Wait...Austin is in love with me. He is IN LOVE WTH ME.

"Austin, Elliot is probably going to go to jail anyway, you might as well go after Ally while you can. You never know what's going to happen," I heard Dez say.

"I'll go over her house later tonight and talk I guess. I don't know, I doubt she wants to see me anyway, I ruined our friendship," he groaned.

"No you didn't. Ally has to understand that you and Elliot go way back. He's just using her a reason to damage you. And, I'm pretty sure Ally loves you back," I heard Dez laugh.

I'm pretty sure I do love Austin.

"Just go right now, we'll be fine. She's probably home anyway, she lives around four minutes from me anyway," Dallas mumbled.

"No, I don't think I can just waltz into her room telling her I love her. Knowing me, I'd do something stupid and mess up a perfectly good friendship," I heard Austin groan.

"Just do it you coward," Dez and Dallas laughed.

"No. What do I even say? 'hey, Ally? Just thought I'd stop by to say I love you' and kiss her? That is so stupid. She hasn't even kissed a guy yet, I'd probably scare her off," he retorted.

"Ally has never kissed Elliot?" Dez squeaked.

"No, Ally is the type of girl who wants everything to be romantic. Elliot and I are far from romantic. Ally deserves a nice guy, not a troubled one like me. She needs a guy who won't freak out on her just because he remembered something from his past. She needs a guy that will take her on dates to parks, beaches, you name it. A guy that will have that stupid cliche kiss as her first. A guy for when they make love for the first time, he won't hurt her in anyway. A guy that is not me," he explained.

"Wow, Moon. That is deep."

"Just go tell her, you coward," Dez suggested.

"Fine, just let me grab my stuff," he gave in.

"But first, take this, you might need it," Dallas laughed.

"How funny and mature, Dallas. You really think this would sweep her off of her feet? She'll probably think I'm like every other stereotypical guy," he groaned.

What Austin just told the boys didn't matter, although, I would like nice dates. But if you love a person and they love you, that's all that matters right? Why would Austin be getting all worked up over something?

My life is like a huge romance movie. I moved to Miami to be a normal teenager and this is far from normal. I met a guy who I fell hard for which is Austin, and dated the jerk, which is Elliot. Now Austin and Elliot are fighting. Austin's the troubled boy who lost hope in life, but met me, who changed his life around. This is almost too cliché to be real. This is far from the normal teenager experience.

Before I could leave, I heard the backdoor click. I didn't expect Austin to be that quick.

"Ally?" Austin whispered. "You're still here?"

"Sorry, I wanted to go back and talk to you, but I was thinking on what I wanted to say," I apologized, obviously lying.

"Can we talk?" he asked.

"Yeah, but can you walk me home? I need to give you something," I smiled at him, reaching my hand out.

"I can do that," he grabbed my hand.

The walk home was quiet. We didn't have much to talk about. He seemed like he wanted to tell me something, but he couldn't. Words were not forming with Austin at all.

"What did you want to give me?" he asked.

"When I was in London, I saw something I knew you'd like," I smiled, giving him a bag.

"Ally, this is huge. Did you buy me all of London?" he laughed.

"Sort of, just open it," I rested my head on his shoulder.


	25. Goodnight, Good morning

**Hey, hi, hello! I lied. There are not a few more chapters left. Actually, there are quite a lot more chapters left :) I decided to rewrite a few and add on to the story. I did not like the way I ended it, so I rewrote the ending and so on. **

**Also, thank you to all my lovely reviews and favoriters :)**

**DDsFinest, I updated it :D So am I not in trouble now? aha :D**

**Anyway, enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Austin and Ally, nor am I affiliated with Disney in anyway. **

* * *

Austin's POV

I opened the box to only find a letter in it: just a letter, nothing else. It was simple, but I could tell it took a lot of thought into it.

"Ally, what is this?" I grinned.

"Well, when I was in London, I was thinking long and hard about some things. And how much you have changed since I met you. I've been here for a year, but I feel like it has been forever. When I met you, you were terrified to come out of your shell. You were nervous, angry, upset, and most importantly, you were afraid to move on. I mean that in the nicest way too. Austin, you have turned into a terrific person in the months that I have known you. And this letter, it only has a few words on it, but I want you to keep this forever," she whispered. "Go on, open it," she nudged me.

"You have gotten stronger every day since I've met you. I'm ridiculously proud of you, Austin. I love you," it read. Just that little sentence, revealed everything about Ally; she's compassionate, loving, caring, and beautiful.

"I thought you didn't believe in love," I smirked.

"You changed me in more ways than one," she beamed. Dez always told me we rubbed off on each other.

"How did I change you?" I asked. It was a dumb question, but it sparked curiosity in me. I hope I didn't change her for the worst.

"I learned to have fun. When I was constantly moving, I read books all of the time. Even if I had friends, I would not have much of a social life. I cared too much about my education rather than myself. When I lived in Chicago for five years, I attended preschool, but all of the kids thought I was weird. During recess I would hang out in the classroom reading a book or coloring something. I followed rules and tried to make everyone happy. When we started to get closer, I realized that I needed to have fun and spending every day with you was fun. If anything, you've broken me out of my awkward stage in life, so thank you."

"But with the love thing?" I laughed.

"The night we spent together before I left for London had me thinking. Remember the night we spent together in the summer? You know, the one when I went AWOL, but you basically broke into my room?" she asked, and I nodded. "Yes, and remember when you told me you knew you loved someone when you had all these weird feelings?" I nodded again. "Well, that night I remembered my heart starting to race and I kept telling myself it was just anxiety because I was leaving. On the plane, I could not stop thinking about you. The whole time I was London, I wanted to know how you were doing, if you were all right, and so on. The plane ride home made me anxious to realize that I'll be seeing you shortly, making me realize that I didn't love you in a best friend kind of way, I realized that I loved you, like truly loved you," she mumbled, still looking down.

"Hey, hey, look at me," I cupped her face.

"If you don't feel the same, I understand," she frowned.

"Ally, you make me crazy. I don't go a day without thinking about you. I love you more than you could imagine. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I want to do a lot of things with you. I don't want us to last for a year. I don't want to see someone else holding you, touching you, or kissing you. I want you to want me as much as I want you," I whispered, pulling her closer to me.

"Then get ready because I'm not leaving you," her breath hitched.

"Good," I smirked.

We sat there for a few seconds, unsure on what was going to happen next. I wanted to kiss her, but she was nervous, I could tell. She fiddled with her hands when she was nervous. At least she wasn't chewing her hair.

"You don't have to be nervous," I whispered, resting my hand on cheek.

"What if I'm bad…?" she mumbled.

"Well, there's one way to find out," I smirked, cupping her face.

I inched closer and closer, until I tilted my head. Ally noticed what I did, so she tilted her head in the other direction. The seconds it took our lips to touch felt like hours. It's been something both of us have been wanting since we met.

Ally's POV

The moment our lips touched, shivers ran down my spine, fireworks going off in my mind, and I felt like I could do anything. I felt bold and brave. You could say it was the perfect first kiss.

"Ally," Austin moaned.

"Yes?" I blushed.

"You're not bad at all," he chucked.

"Next time, right?" I winked.

"Of course," he kissed me.

"I guess we're together now?" I smiled.

"Definitely."

* * *

I woke up to the sound of someone pounding on the door. I tried to move, but I was still wrapped in Austin's arms.

"Good morning, beautiful," he mumbled into my hair.

"Good morning," I kissed him.

"Are you alright?" he asked in hushed tone.

"I hear someone at the door. I'm not sure who it is though," I whispered.

"Do you want to get up and check?"

"I do, but I don't," I groaned.

"I'll check," he yawned, rolling out of bed.

"What if my parents are locked out? Both of us could get into trouble," I whisper-yelled.

"Well, there's one way to find out," he yawned again.

We slowly crept down my steps to see who was at the door. I was nervous on who it was and what they wanted. No one comes to my house besides Dez, Trish, and Austin.

"Who is that?" I whispered.

"I think its Dallas…" he replied.

"Why is he here?" I asked.

"Something about Elliot maybe. Should we let him in?" he asked.

"Well, duh, you go upstairs. I'll answer it just in case, you know?" I suggested.

"Right, be safe," he kissed me.

I slowly walked towards the front door. Looking out of the peephole, I saw that it was not Dallas. Instead it was Elliot.

"Elliot…" I whispered.


	26. Ruined

"Listen Ally, just hear me out, please," he begged.

"Can we talk outside?" I whispered, hoping Austin would not hear me.

"Yeah, actually, I'd like that," he grinned.

"What do you want?" I spat.

"Forgiveness," he sighed.

"For what? Jumping Austin and Dallas?" I hissed.

"Yes. I tried stopping over Austin's and his mom said he was at Dallas' and when I went to Dallas' no one was home. I figured they were at your house," he mumbled.

"I haven't seen Austin or Dallas in a while," I lied.

"I figured you'd say that," he smirked, and grabbed my wrist.

"What are you doing?" I whisper-yelled.

"Listen, Ally. I'm not dumb. I know Austin stayed the night. I really liked you, I really did. I was going to put my problems with Austin to the side if we were still together. Please, give me one more chance," he begged.

"Elliot, no. I'm sorry. Austin isn't even important. The fact that you and your friends jumped him and Dallas is important," I screamed.

Austin's POV

Ally is taking forever. It's probably Trish and they're catching up. It has to be Trish, but the figure looked like Dallas. Was it Dallas or was it someone else?

"Austin isn't even important," I heard Ally yell.

I'm not important? How am I not important to Ally? My best friend, music partner, and most importantly my girlfriend…how am I not important to my own girlfriend.

I peeped out of her window to find her and Elliot talking. They were laughing and smiling. I knew everything was too good to be true.

I quickly wrote Ally and note and left through her backdoor. She couldn't have seen me, right?

Ally's POV

"Elliot. I'm not breaking up with Austin," I snapped.

"But we had such a good time together, Als," he smirked.

"We did, but I'm sorry, it's not going to work out. You jumped two of my good friends. Why would I want to get back with someone who jumped my friends?"

"I get it. I'm sorry for bothering you, this was stupid of me," he sighed and walked towards his car.

Why is Elliot such a complex person? He acted like nothing ever happened and wanted to put his differences with Austin to the side? That sounds nothing like him. He sounded desperate, sad, and lonely.

I walked back into my house and up the stairs into my room. I noticed that Austin had left. He probably had a therapist appointment today and had to leave. He didn't text me or call me, but instead, he left a note.

"Sorry," the note said. What did he mean by sorry?

"Austin?" I mumbled over the phone.

"Yes, Ally?" he grumbled.

"What did your note mean?" I asked.

"Exactly what it meant. It meant sorry," he spat and hung up.

After hanging up with Austin, I called Dallas. He must know what was going on.

"Dallas, hi, it's Ally," I whispered.

"What do you want?" he snapped.

"What's wrong with Austin?" I asked.

"You don't know?" he asked sarcastically, as if were dumb.

"No. I do not know, care to enlighten me?"

"Are you back with Elliot?" he groaned.

"No. Never, why would I?"

"Austin told me you said he wasn't important. You know he just spent a year getting over depression, way to throw him off the edge," he hissed and hung up.

I ruined it. I ruined a perfectly good relationship with Austin. I never cried, but suddenly, I feel as if a waterfall of tears were about to come out.

* * *

**Hi, sorry this chapter is so bad :( I'm not exactly happy with it, so I'll be touching it up later. I'll warn you all when I update it. :)**

**Also, I'm really sorry this chapter is sort of sad. **


	27. Why

Austin's POV

"Who were you on the phone with?" I asked.

"Ally," Dallas mumbled.

"Why the hell are you talking to her?" I snapped.

"Listen, Austin, she's just one girl. There are plenty more."

"No, you don't understand. I am in love with Ally. Well I was, but I guess things can change in a split second," I frowned, plopping down on the sofa.

"Austin, I doubt Ally would pick Elliot over you. She said it herself, she loves you," he smirked, sympathetically.

"Then what do I do?" I asked.

"Why do you always question your next move? You know what you want to do. Just go do it," he nudged me.

"What if she's mad at me?"

"She will be, but kiss her and tell her you love her, that's what I do with Veronica," he laughed.

"Ally, let me in," I yelled.

"Ally, please, come on, answer me," I yelled.

I know she is home. Sonic Boom was closed, Trish was working, Dez is still sleeping, unless she's with Elliot, but no. She can't be. She's mine.

* * *

"Austin, you're such a jerk," Tilly opened the door and glared at me.

"Why are you here?" I sighed.

"Because Ally has been crying blaming all of your drama on herself. Austin, I can't believe you're letting her take the blame for all of this," she snapped.

"Tilly, I really need to talk to Ally. I don't care if you guys are friends or whatever you want to call it, this is really important. I messed up," I sighed.

"Bye, Austin," she slammed the door.

Today is too weird. I thought Ally wasn't that close with Tilly, but I guess since Trish is working Tilly took her place. What have I done? This is my fault, why would Ally take the blame?

Ally's POV

"Tilly, you really didn't have to," I sighed into my pillow.

"Hey, anything for a friend," she smiled. I was never really fond of Tilly, but I needed to get answers about Austin, Dallas, and Elliot from people. Tilly seemed to know too much.

"I'm sorry about Austin, he can be like that," she frowned.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Before you moved here and way before he was dating Cassidy, he dated this girl, Brooke. He was never in love with her or anything. Their relationship wasn't that serious either, but he cared deeply about her. He worried about her and wanted to make sure she was all right. Brooke was a friend of Elliot's and Elliot hated the fact that her and Austin were dating, so Brooke broke up with Austin to make Elliot happy," she explained.

"Wait, Brooke broke up with Austin because of Elliot?"

"Yes, Elliot is really competitive about things and if things do not go his way, he'll get his revenge somehow. At my party last year, Austin, Dez, and Dallas were drunk along with Elliot and his crew. Brooke was there, wanting to get back with Austin and he agreed, only because he was drunk. When Elliot showed up, Austin felt enraged that Elliot was the reason of their break up and initiated a fight between then, and then you know, Austin's brother tried to break it up and yeah, bad things," she explained.

"I don't get how I'm involved though…"

"The past relationships Austin has had sucked because he gave up. He just gave up on them because Elliot always had his way around Austin. Once he started to date Cassidy he backed off because no one wanted to date her. Elliot gets what he wants, and you are what he wants. He won't care if he has to kill someone. If things do not go his way, terrible things happen," she frowned.

* * *

**Hi, sorry this is so short. It's basically a filler chapter. I mean, it is still important, but it's not the most important chapter, you get me? Anyway, sorry this chapter sucks so much. **


	28. Follow Me

_[Really long time jump. I'm sorry]_

School started today and none of us have heard a peep out of Austin. Elliot has left Dallas alone, we were unsure about Austin, but if Dallas was left alone, Austin must be too.

I walked to my locker to find Dez, Trish, and Dallas, standing there. They looked upset, especially with me.

"Where has Austin been these past few weeks?" Dallas asked.

"I don't know. I was going to ask you guys the same thing," I sighed.

"You guys didn't kiss and make up?" Dallas looked at me in confusion.

"No, Tilly scared him off. I've been trying to call him, text him, and so on," I mumbled.

"I tried stopping over, but he wasn't home," Dez added.

"Where could he be?" I freaked out.

"Minis, the arcade, the beach, his secret spot, and so on," Dez suggested.

"Dez you idiot! What is his secret spot?" Trish hissed.

"First day back to school and you're already mean to me. I thought you would have missed me," Dez joked.

"Sorry, sorry, sorry, but this is important. You know Austin, you know his past, you know what he has dealt with," Trish whisper-yelled.

"I can't betray him like that. His secret spot is secret!" Dez yelped.

"Dez come on, I need to see my boyfriend or whatever he is," I panicked.

"Boyfriend?" Trish looked at me.

"While you left us, Austin and Ally dated for a day and then the whole Elliot fiasco happened," Dallas filled her in.

"Please, Dez, can you bring me to Austin's secret spot. There is a 99% chance he is there," I pleaded.

"Fine, I have art right now, but I'll just tell you. It's not far from here," he gave in.

* * *

Austin's POV

I don't get what's wrong with me? Every time I'm finally content with my life, Elliot comes and messes it up. I don't know what I have ever done to him and why I deserve it. He took away one of the most important people in my life, Ally Dawson.

I sat on the ledge of the rock and just thought about things. I was not ready to face school, and especially Ally. We had so many plans for the rest of the summer, for school, and after we graduated. It was all thrown away in one rage of jealously. I knew nothing would have gone on between Ally and Elliot. I knew she loved me, but jealously struck again.

"Come here often?" I heard a voice in a distance. Why was Ally here? Only Dez and I know about this place, unless Dez snitched. Dammit.

"What do you want?" I mumbled.

"To explain everything to you," she sighed, sitting next to me.

"I was jealous and messed up, I'm sorry," I quickly apologized.

"Austin, you look sick," she cried, obviously avoiding what I told her.

"Don't worry about it," I trembled.

"How can I not worry? You look sick. Have you been eating? Sleeping? The bags under your eyes are ridiculous," she teared up.

"Ally, don't worry about me. Just hear me out," I snapped.

"Alright, what is it?"

"I was jealous and messed up. I'm so sorry. I messed up our friendship and our relationship. I shouldn't have left that morning without confronting you. I didn't know what I was thinking or feeling. I was just so happy that we were finally dating that I freaked out seeing you talk to Elliot," I apologized.

"Austin, I-" She started to speak.

"Shhh…" I stopped her. "Just come here," I sighed, wrapping my arm around her.

"Austin I'm so sorry," she mumbled.

"It's not your fault at all," I kissed her cheek.

"We can't do this," she got up.

"Why not?"

"Elliot gets whatever he wants and if were together, he could do something terrible to you and I don't want to be the reason why Elliot is out to get you," she sobbed.

"Ally, this isn't your fault. Elliot never liked me and I don't know why," I sighed.

"What do you mean?" she furrowed her brow.

"He has never liked me. I'm used to it, but if he tries to take you away from me, then there will be problems," my blood started to boil at the thought of that.

"Well until we figure it out, let's just remain friends, nothing else," she frowned.

"You don't want to be just friends. I see right through you," I smirked.

"No, I don't, but in order to keep you safe, we'll have to be just friends."

"Ally. Stop worrying about me, please," I begged.

"I can't though. If we date, I'm scared Elliot will hurt you. Just give me time, I'll talk to him and find out why he hates you so much," she mumbled.

"So, we're breaking up?" I whispered.

"No, we are not. We're on a break until all of this Elliot drama gets pushed aside," she grinned.

Strangely, it's not hurting me as much as I thought. The few weeks away from Ally were the worst. Knowing that she hasn't given up on me shows that she really is in love with me.

"I love you," I mumbled.

"I love you too," she blushed.

We sat there in silence for a few minutes. She was fiddling with her hands and looking down at the ground. That is the number one sign that Ally is nervous.

"I think I should get you to class, smart girl can't be behind," I joked.

Ally's POV

"Smart girl can't be behind," he laughed. Just a year ago today Austin called me smart girl. He sounded like his old self, which was lonely and sad. What has he been doing those past weeks after our fight or whatever you called it? His parents were always at the mattress store rather than with him and family.

"Actually, no, spend the day with me," I suggested.

"Ally, I'm more important than school?" he looked at me. That was it. He must have overheard me with Elliot. He must have heard what I said, but he didn't hear the whole story.

"Austin, you're more important to me than anyone. You are my best friend. You are the one who showed me to have fun and stand up to people. If you think you're not important to me, you're crazy," I mumbled, still looking down.

"But you told Elliot that…" he started to speak.

"That, the fact that he jumped both you and Dallas was more important your little feud with him. I would never want to date a guy that jumped two of my friends, especially if one of them is my boyfriend. Austin, you didn't hear the full story," I added. He sat there and stared at me. He kept opening his mouth to try to speak, but nothing came out. His facial expression suddenly turned from a frown into a blank expression. He was absolutely dumbfounded at what he just heard.

"Are you going to say something…?" I mumbled.

"I'm sorry," was all he managed to say until he got up and stared at me.

"What?" I looked at him in confusion.

He looked weak, almost as if he wasn't eating or sleeping. From what Dez told me, this was his old self. He told me after Matthew died, he looked like this. He was in complete distress.

"Austin, where are you going?" I yelled.

"Follow me," he replied. Where the heck was he going?


	29. The Woods

I followed him into the woods and down this path. We reached the darkest part of the woods. There were beer cans everywhere, broken glass, and an old mattress. Why would Austin come here?

"What is this?" I asked.

"My brothers hiding spot," he sighed. It seemed so unlike his brother. The way him and Dez described Matthew was far from what I was seeing. This area was terrifying.

"He drank beer and slept on a mattress?" I mumbled.

"No, this is Elliot and Barry's work," he sighed and sat down on the log.

"Why would they do this?" I asked.

"Because Barry never liked my brother and Elliot took after him. It's a mystery why Barry and Matthew never got along. Elliot and I used to get along. We actually used to be friends. Our friendship was strange. He was really competitive, so he tried to beat me at everything. Deep down we hated each other, but had to be friends because of Brooke," he explained.

"Have you two ever talked? Maybe he has a guilty conscience after what happened last year," I suggested.

"We were fine. We stayed out of each other's path until we became friends. Suddenly, his hate for me became twenty times stronger," he sighed. I was the reason why Austin is slowly progressing back into his dark stage.

"I'm the reason," I mumbled.

"Ally, I didn't mean it like that. It's not even you. It is every girl I have dated in the past, well besides Cassidy, no one likes her, but still he has always tried to take my previous girlfriends away. He tried with you and I was a coward. I didn't fight back. I wanted to fight for you, but I knew you'd come back," he half-heartedly smiled.

"How many girls has this happened with?" I asked. How many girlfriends did Austin actually have?

"Well…" he trailed off.

"Too many?" I suggested.

"No. Brooke, Kira, and…Tilly," he frowned. Tilly…he dated Tilly. But Tilly hated Elliot and Tilly and Austin were still friends. Did that mean he loved Tilly?

"Did you love Tilly?" I asked.

"No, not at all. Tilly is actually a family friend, dating her was really wrong. We went out for a few weeks until Elliot started to talk to Tilly. Then a week later Tilly and I broke up, but still remained friends. My family is always at her family's house talking about things," he explained. That also explains why Tilly knows so much about Austin. If anything, Tilly is like an older sister to Austin, trying to protect him.

"What about Brooke or Kira?"

"Ally, why does it matter?" he asked.

"What if this ruins our friendship?" I asked.

"Despite what Elliot tries to do to me, I'd always be your friend. I don't care what stupid mistake you will make in the future, I'll always be your friend. Ally, I'm not going to let a girl like you slip out of my hands, trust me, it happened to my brother. He told me if I loved a girl, I shouldn't give up," he chucked lightly.

"If I never moved here, none of this would have happened," I sighed.

"Ally, stop blaming yourself. Elliot will be Elliot, I'll always be Austin and you'll always be Ally. It doesn't matter why Elliot hates me, as long as we're Austin and Ally, that's fine by me," he smiled. Austin still looked upset despite everything we just talked about it.

"What's really bothering you?" I asked.

"What makes you think something is bothering me?" he retorted.

"You still are not yourself. You're acting the way you were the day I met you. Strange and upset," I mumbled.

"I don't think we should do this," he stuttered.

"What? Why?" I choked.

"I don't want you involved in any of this. Listen, we'll remain friends, but for the sake both of us, we should just be friends," he sighed.

"I'm sorry," he muttered under his breath.

"Don't be sorry. I get it," I mumbled.

"Are you mad at me?" he asked, still looking down.

"No, but I'm going to help you. I'll figure out why Elliot doesn't like you. Austin, I'll always care about you, even if we stop talking for a while or even if we break up in the future. I'll help you out whenever you need me," I managed to smile.

"I don't want to rely on you for everything though. Especially because this is our last year together," he mumbled.

"Why? Where are you going to college?" I asked.

"New York. I'm going to NYU," he sighed. I was going to go to Philadelphia, which isn't that far. But, New York…why so far?

"Why New York?" I asked.

"I don't know. Just to get away from Miami. I want to live in a city, where I'm guaranteed I'll make it as a singer. I wanted you to come with me, but that is too much to ask. You are my songwriter," he shrugged.

"I'll go anywhere you go," I smiled. Not knowing what I'm going to get myself into, but if it involves being with Austin; I guess I'll manage.

"Don't decide your college based on me, decide on what you want to do. If anything, I'll go anywhere you go, as long as there is a music school," he laughed.

"You really mean that?"

"I have meant everything I have ever told you, Als." He managed to smile. "Come on, let's go somewhere," he got up.

"Where are we going to go?" I questioned.

"No idea, let's just drive somewhere, clear our minds off of everything. Forget school, parents, Elliot, and all of our troubles, lets just drive," he shrugged.

I sat there, confused. There was something way off about Austin. He went from annoyed, to happy, to sad, to ecstatic in just an hour or two. He was never like this. Not even before everything has happened. I put it aside and just went with it.


	30. Reconcile

We've been in his car for two hours just driving and talking. It felt good. It was relaxing and scenic. We were about to approach a huge lake, but he pulled over and turned the car off. I had no idea what he was doing and where he was going, but he came back with a tag for his car and opened my door.

"Where are we going?" I smirked.

"That is a surprise, my friend," he smirked. "Are you wearing decent shoes?" he asked.

"Sort of, why?" I laughed.

"Do you care if they get muddy?"

"A little, why? Where are we going?" I asked, a little nervous. I had no idea what he was doing, but knowing Austin it was going to be weird.

"Then in that case, princess," he laughed, picking me up. Austin has never had a problem picking me up, but today it seemed to bother him. All of his energy was getting drained out of him faster. It didn't help that he looked weak.

"I can walk, it's no big deal," I suggested.

"Nah, if I trip, you're going down with me," he laughed.

It took me a few seconds to adjust to where I was. We were at a campground. How did he manage to take me to a campground? All there was were trees, a hammock, and a giant lake. Well, there was a cabin too, but that was farther back. What was with Austin and the great outdoors? This is a side of Austin I never knew.

"What is with you and the outdoors?" I arched my brow and laughed.

"I love the outdoors. It's peaceful and natural, plus, Dez and I hangout here sometimes," he nervously laughed.

"Is this your campground?" I questioned.

"Yep. We own this and we also own the cabin over there," he smiled. They own a nice cabin here in Miami, yet they go to Cape Cod. "Let's go inside," he grabbed my hand.

There was a rock pathway to the cabin. From the pathway, there was a ramp. Everything looked brand new. Inside the cabin was beautiful. I can't even explain how nice everything was.

"Why are we here anyway," I asked.

"Actually, this isn't where I'm taking you, but I told my mom I would check on the cabin yesterday, but since they're out buying mattress until Tuesday, I figured I'd do it today," he lightly chuckled.

"How long have your parents been away?" I looked at him.

"Since Thursday," he frowned. I could see that he was hurt in more ways than one. He missed his parents. They haven't been away for that long since I met him.

"You miss them?" I whispered.

"A lot, actually. I mean they were always out doing business stuff and conventions, but lately, it's been more frequent than usual," he mumbled. "They called me yesterday morning asking to check on the cabin because they're coming here on Wednesday just to get away from things."

"Matthew's hitting them hard again?" I mumbled.

"No, actually, it's me this time. They're worried about me a lot. Which I don't understand because they're leaving me alone, shouldn't they care more and stay with me?" he asked.

"People have different ways of grieving and dealing with things. They're probably too worried about you that they shut down and don't know what to do," I sighed.

"Probably," he sat down and sighed. "Well, the cabin is fine, I'll text them to tell them that it was," he mumbled. "Ready to go for a long drive?" he suggested.

"Yeah," I smiled.

Austin's POV

You would imagine it would be awkward breaking up with Ally then acting if everything was normal; it's really not awkward. I know for a fact that Ally loves me as much as I love her and possibly even more. And it's technically not an actual break up; it's more of a break, it's complicated. We've been driving for about four hours now. I had to get her home before five so her parents weren't suspicious on what was happening.

"Austin, thank you," she smiled.

"For what?" I asked.

"For today. I'll see you in school," she sighed.

"Hey, Ally?" I yelled.

"What? You don't have to yell," she laughed.

"I know today was weird for you, it was weird for me too, but tomorrow, I don't think we should communicate with each other as much as we used to. I think you should sit with Elliot and just figure things out. I'll talk to Cassidy tonight about it and I'll talk to Tilly tomorrow," I sighed. Why did I just say that?

"I guess I can do that," she frowned. She started to turn to go into her house. Before she could grab her keys, I stopped her.

"Austin…I" she started to speak.

"Shh…" I cut her off. "Just come here," I smiled, pulling her into a hug.

"I'll see you tomorrow, smart girl," I lightly chuckled into her hair and left.

* * *

**Wow hey hi hello all you fabulous people. Thank you for reviewing and favoriting :D It means a lot!**

**In other news, how about Ross winning a KCA?! That was literally the highlight of my night last night :)**

**Anyway, okay so Guest, I have no idea who you are, but there might be a sequel~~~~weyhey!**

**and Rocky lynch3 aj thank you so much, my friend! You rule :D Also, xRainbowNinjax, you may hit Elliot. I mean Austin and Dallas already hit him a few times, but hey, go for it!**

**ahhhh! okay oflkjsdfs. **

**Also, I really apologize for not being the best writer. I literally just got into the whole fanfiction thing less than a year ago. I'm better at writing essays than stories. Womp. **


	31. Cassidy

I got into my car and drove a few blocks down to Cassidy's house. I know she knew stuff that I didn't know. It's going to be awkward, but I need answers.

"Austin…" she stuttered. She looked different. She looked better, as if she wasn't her self. She looked apologetic. "What are you doing here?"

"I came here to ask you something," I mumbled.

"Come in, I'm sorry my house is a mess, do you want anything to drink?" she croaked.

"What's wrong? This is unlike you. If I knocked on your door a few weeks ago, you'd be throwing yourself at me or wanting to kill me," I lightly chucked.

"I'm upset that we broke up, but you and Ally are good for each other. I see you sneak into her room sometimes. I see you leave her house early in the morning just so you don't get caught. You never did any of that for me and that's because we weren't right for each other. You and Ally are perfect for each other," she sighed, still looking at me.

"Why are you suddenly here? Did you guys break up? Because I'm really not down to be a rebound," she laughed.

"No, I came here to ask you something," I repeated.

"Oh, what is it?"

"Have you and Elliot been plotting to make my life suck?" I asked.

"Ugh, Elliot. No, I haven't but he has," she groaned.

"You know things I don't, I knew it," I muttered.

"Sort of. He just wants Ally to get rid of you completely. He figures if he got back with Ally he could change her mind about you. He came to me asking if I would tell him what our relationship was like so he could tell Ally. I just told him that we hung out and watched movies because that's what we did. He said I was no help and left," she shrugged. I watched Cassidy's facial expressions as she spoke. She was hiding something else, but wouldn't tell me. Was she scared that I'd freak out on her again?

"There's more to that," I snapped.

"That's the whole thing, Austin. I'm sorry," she apologized.

"Why does he hate me so much?" I asked. I know Cassidy probably wouldn't know the answer, but I've seen Elliot come in and out of her house once in a while.

"I have no idea," she stuttered.

"You do know, Cassidy," I looked at her.

"Listen, you have to talk to Elliot himself. It's complicated, it'll be better if you hear it from him," she whispered.

"He hates me, though," I argued.

"Just talk to Elliot. It's getting late, I think you should leave," she stuttered. It was only six at night, how was that late?

"Alright, I'll see you around," I sighed and left.


	32. Oh, Dallas

Ally's POV

"Hey, any luck yesterday?" Dallas smirked, putting his arm around me.  
"Hey Dallas, unfortunately no, Austin and I are sort of over," I sighed.

"What do you mean? Like friendship over?" he looked puzzled.

"No, it's just like we were talking last night and we figured that we shouldn't be together like that and we should not socialize as much. Just so Elliot can leave you two alone," I shrugged his arm off of me.

"So I have to find a new table to sit at?" he laughed, looking over at Austin. "Hey, I think I'm going to say hey to Austin," he mumbled and left.

I watched Austin and Dallas for a few seconds. Austin looked completely fine today. He was happy, socializing and avoiding eye contact with me. I guess this is how it's going to go for now.

"You and Austin broke up?" Dez came up to me and frowned.

"Yeah and apparently we can't say hello to each other," I sighed. I thought we were going to remain friends, but it looks as if I was never here.

"He looks different," Dez muttered.

"What do you mean?"

"He looks happy," he grinned.

"Probably because I'm out of the picture," I sighed.

"I doubt that's true, Als. Austin loves you," he laughed. "Hey, have you seen Trish?" he asked.

"Yeah, she went to homeroom already," I mumbled.

"I have to talk to her about something, you're welcomed to join me," he smirked.

"No, it's fine, I think I'm going to talk to Dallas and Austin, well probably Dallas," I smiled.

"Ah be careful, don't want Elliot seeing that," he laughed and left.

"Ally Dawson," Dallas beamed.

"Hello again," I smiled. I looked at Austin and he was trying hard not to say anything to me. He kept staring off into the distance, making sure he was not looking at me.

"Hi Austin," I sighed. He kept looking into the distance, not even answering me.

"Austin, Ally said something to you," Dallas nudged him.

"Right, sorry, hey, Als," he mumbled.

"Hey Austin, if you don't mind, I need to steal your 'ex-girlfriend'" Dallas smirked, air quoting 'ex-girlfriend'

"Go right ahead," he muttered.

* * *

"Awkward," Dallas laughed.

"You tell me, is he okay?" I asked.

"He's fine, his acting is terrible, but he's fine," Dallas joked. I thought things were not going to be awkward between us. We're still the same people, only we're not. We have to avoid each other as much as possible.

"What do you mean by acting?"

"I told him he should act as if you broke his heart to make it believable," Dallas smirked.

"Dallas! That's crazy," I laughed. Truthfully, that was a really good idea.

"Hey, look, there's Elliot," he pointed off into the distance. I had no idea what Dallas was doing, but he slipped his arm around my waist and waved at Elliot. What was he doing?

"Elliot, my man," Dallas smirked.

"Dallas, you still friends with Moon?" he asked.

"Nope, sorry, why?" he nudged me.

"I just figured because of what happened over the summer," he mumbled.

"Nah, stole his girl, why would he be my friend," he smiled coyly and nudged me again. I knew what Dallas was doing, but if I were truly what Elliot wanted, wouldn't Dallas get as much problems as Austin was?

"Oh, you two are dating?" he looked at me.

"Yes," Dallas smirked, kissing my cheek.

I looked over towards the locker to see Austin observing us. He didn't look happy at all. He looked rather mad at both of us. He was propped up against his locker watching our every move, trying to figure out what was happening.

"That's weird," Elliot shrugged.

"Hey, Elliot, can I talk to you?" I asked.

"Sure, what do you need to know?" he smirked.

"Actually, Dallas and I would like to talk to you," I smiled at Dallas.

"Alright, what is it?" he grumbled.

"Why do you hate Austin so much?" we asked.

"Austin is behind this, isn't he?" he snapped.

"No, for the last time, Austin and I are not dating. I'm dating Dallas," I hissed.

"I don't hate Austin," he grinned.

"Yes you do, you so hate Austin," I snapped.

"Come on, Elliot, we just want to know because frankly, we're sick of him," Dallas muttered.

"You two? His best friends?" he looked at us.

"Yes, we are," I sighed. "Actually, Dallas, I have statistics, in five minutes, I'll see you later," I sighed, hugging him.

"Later, Als," he smirked.


	33. Unwanted Encounters

**Hi sorry I didn't update yesterday! I was ridiculously busy with stuff :( BUT I'm on springbreak now! So yay! Also, this chapter is not my best at all, I apologize. **

* * *

_Dallas' POV_

I looked over at Austin who looked more hurt than angry. I told him I had a plan, but I guess he didn't understand.

Elliot and Ally left for class, so it was just Austin and I in study hall.

"What the hell, man, I thought you had a plan," Austin grabbed me by the collar.

"That was my plan, we're getting closer to unraveling why he hates you," I whisper-yelled.

"Can you do it in a way where you're not touching Ally in anyway?" he snapped.

"No, Elliot is believing it. By the way, I would stay away from Ally and I for the next couple of days, we sort of told him that we hated you," I lightly chucked.

"You are the worst, Dallas."

"Thanks, pal, but now you have to get away from me because Elliot's next class is in here," I laughed.

Austin moved from the middle of the room all the way into the back of the room. We knew Elliot was always the first to class.

"Ally," I smiled. Truthfully, I don't mind fake dating Ally. I know it bothers my best friend, but she is just so damn pretty. A lot of the guys here like Ally. There's something about her that makes everyone go crazy, even me. Austin is a lucky man.

"Hey, Dallas," she grinned, looking annoyed.

"Why so mad?" I laughed.

"The whole period Elliot kept asking me if you and I had a plan and if Austin was behind it," she groaned.

"Well that's unfortunate, let me walk you to your class," I smirked, putting my arm around her.

"Is this believable enough?" she whispered.

"I think so, I won't try to kiss you though. That's Austin's job," I laughed.

People were staring at us, mainly friends of Austin and Ally's. The people that wanted them to get together look heartbroken, especially Dez and Trish. They looked confused on why Ally and I were like this. Only Austin, Ally, and I are in on this, if I tell more people, Elliot will become suspicious.

"I'll see you after class," I smiled, kissing her cheek.

"I thought you said you weren't going to kiss me?" she smirked.

"Yeah, but when you and Austin were best friends, he'd kiss you all the time, so think about that," I laughed.

"You're an idiot," she laughed and walked into her class.

I made my way down the hallway until Trish and Dez pulled me into another hall.

"What the hell do you think you're doing," Trish spat.

"The greatest plan on earth," I smirked.

"Austin looks so pissed off. Have you seen him lately? He looks as if he wants to kill someone," Dez whisper-yelled.

"I get it, he's mad, but frankly, I don't care," I snapped and left.

I continued my way to class until Austin pulled me aside.

"Dallas," he muttered.

"Austin," I smirked.

"Is this believable enough?" he whispered.

"No idea, Trish and Dez are pissed though, I would go talk to them," I mumbled and left.

I swear if I get stopped one more time I'm going to flip out. I was already on the verge of being late to class. The last thing I need is a detention on the second day of school.

I spoke too soon; I was dragged into another corridor, this time by Elliot himself.

"Yo man, I'm going to be late to class," I snapped.

"Are you and Ally _really_ dating?" he whispered.

"Yes, Austin is completely out of the picture," I replied. Elliot looked fine by it. As if he didn't care about Ally. So it was a personal problem with Austin.

"Can I ask you something?" I whispered.

"Anything."

"Why did you jump me when you have nothing against me? You seem fine about Ally and I dating, but when Austin and Ally were friends, you flipped out."

"I don't have a problem with you at all anymore. As long as you're not friends with Austin that's fine," he smirked.

"What do you even have against him?"

"Promise you won't repeat it?" he sighed.

"I promise," I managed to say.

"Well okay," he sighed. "Here we go."

* * *

**CLIFFHANGER :D Ahh, but what do you think Elliot's grudge against Austin is?**

**Also, thank you to all my lovely reviewers and favoriters :)**


	34. Not the Secret?

_Hi sorry I didn't update :( I went to go tour a college yesterday. Sorry!_

* * *

Austin's POV

School was finally over. I just wanted to go home and relax. After today, I don't think I ever want to go back to school.

I reached home, went upstairs, and plopped on my bed. I was annoyed at the thought of Ally and Dallas. I wish my brother were here, he would know the answers for everything.

"Austin, sweetie, we're home," Mom yelled.

I didn't feel like answering my mom, dad, or anyone else. I just wanted this day to be over, but then again, if I go to school tomorrow, I'll have to see Ally and Dallas holding hands, something I would never want to see.

My phone beeped with six messages from Dez. He's probably as confused as I am.

"Dez, Ally and Dallas are 'dating' I'm fine by it. It's part of a plan to figure out why Elliot hates me," I replied. Shortly after, I got another text from Dez.

"Dumbest. Plan. Ever," I read.

"It's really not," I replied.

"Ally and Dallas are hanging out at Sonic Boom right now. Trish and I are spying on them. We think your plan is stupid, Austin," Dez replied.

"It's not," I replied and shut off my phone.

Ally's POV

"I saw you and Elliot talking earlier, you guys cool?" I asked.

"Yeah, we're fine. He told me why," he smirked.

"Really? That's great, why does he hate Austin?"

"I can't really tell you," he sighed.

"You're going to throw that in my face and not even tell me?" I looked at him.

"Fine, but you can't tell Austin. If Austin approaches Elliot about it, he'll beat the daylight out of me and I'm trying not to get jumped again. Once was enough," he laughed.

"I swear, I won't.

He led me up into the practice room to tell me.

"So, that's why," he sighed.

"That is such a dumb reason," I yelled.

"Yep, I wanted to laugh in his face, but I decided not to," he smirked.

"I actually really want to laugh," I grinned.  
"Same," he started to crack up.

"But, that sounds so unlike Elliot. It has to be made up though. I doubt Elliot would be mad at Austin because of a trivia contest. He is not the brightest and we all know that," I looked at him.

"Man, you're right. I still really want to laugh," he grinned.

"No time for laughing, we really need to figure this out. The more we do, the less Austin has to do. He has enough problems right now, he doesn't need anymore," I groaned and sat down at the piano.

"True, but how? He knows we're behind on this. We're going to have to step up our game," he suggested, looking down at the ground.

"It's no use, he'd only crack if I started to date him again, but I really don't want to get involved in that. Austin would have to confront him himself and he would never do that," I mumbled, fiddling with the keys on the piano.

"It's either that or Elliot makes his life a living hell nine more months. He has something against Austin because he's fine with me," he sighed, sitting on the counter.

"I'm going up to the practice room, can you call Austin to tell him to come here?" I mumbled.

"Yeah, no problem. He's probably as confused about this as everyone else," he laughed, pulling out his phone to call Austin.


	35. You Worry Too Much

"Austin, man, glad you came," I heard Dallas say, locking the door.

"Yeah, where's Ally?" he asked.

"Home. I work here now," he laughed. "Just kidding, she's upstairs. She's working on a song," Dallas laughed again.

"Great," he sighed and made his way up the stairs.

* * *

"Hey," he managed to say, still frowning. It hurts me seeing him like this. I know he's not happy about this plan and neither am I, but Elliot left Austin alone today.

"I'm so sorry about this," I immediately ran up to hug him, but he pushed me away. "Did I do something?" I whispered.

"No, not at all. I'm just really confused on what is going on," he sighed, sitting on the bench.

"Listen, you're just as confused as I am. I had no idea what Dallas was doing this morning, but Elliot left you alone, right?" he nodded. "See, he left you alone, that's what you wanted, right?" he shook his head, disappointed.

"No, I want my girlfriend back, I don't want my best friend fake dating my girlfriend, and I don't want Elliot to hurt you or Dallas," he snapped. I could tell anger was taking over his mind. He looked frustrated since this morning. This was so unlike Austin.

"You ended it with me, if you want me back, you have me, I'm forever yours," I hollered. "You wanted Elliot out of your face one day, now you're telling me you don't? Can you make up your mind? Dallas and I are trying our hardest to figure this out for you, but if you're going to throw a fit at us for trying to help you, then we're not, okay?" I snapped. I looked at Austin; he was more surprised than angry now. I have never snapped at someone as badly as I just did to Austin. "I'm so sorry," I whispered, taking a few steps back.

"Ally…I appreciate it, really, but wow," he stuttered. He was just as confused as I was right now.

We looked at each other in silence, not knowing what to do. One of tried to speak, but couldn't. It was like this for a few minutes until Dallas came upstairs.

* * *

"You two kill each other yet?" he smirked, looking at us.

"No," we said in unison, still staring at each other.

"Can you two just kiss and make up? I'm getting sick of spying on you two," he chuckled, pushing us together.

"No," Austin mumbled. Before I could speak, he turned the other direction and walked out of the room.

"Austin, where are you going?" I yelled.

"Somewhere to think," he muttered and left.

"Great," I sighed. "What do we do next?"

"Today's Wednesday, right?" Dallas asked.

"Yes…why?" I looked at him in confusion.

"Follow me, I know where he's going," he groaned, grabbing my arm. It's funny, you would have expected Austin and Dez to be really close, but it was Austin and Dallas. Dez always talks to highly of Austin and how great of friends they were, but instead, he decided to remain out of this whole Austin-Elliot situation. Now, Dallas, barely talked about Austin, but decided to stay in this whole Austin-Elliot situation. Something seems wrong about this.

* * *

"Dallas, why are you so concerned about Austin so much? You barely talked about him?" I asked.

"I used to be Austin's go-to friend if Dez was busy, but since Dez was away the whole summer, Austin and I spent a lot of time together when you were away," he sighed.

"Why is Dez not in on this? He's only in on it when he feels he needs to be, but they're best friends?"

"Dez and Austin are best friend still, but Dez hates this stuff so much. Which is dumb because I hate it too, but I doubt you and Austin could take on Elliot," he laughed.

"Where are we even going?" I whispered.

"The graveyard. He goes there to talk to Matthew about things and praying for advice. Him and I went there over the summer. He actually needed advice on you," he laughed, slowing down his pace.

"Why are we slowing down…?

"Because Austin isn't here…something is really wrong about this. It's Wednesday at eight at night. He goes every Wednesday, why isn't he here?" he whisper-yelled.

"Because I'm behind you," I heard Austin say.

"What? You followed us? Uncool, Moon," Dallas smirked. If any of you haven't noticed, Dallas is a huge jokester. He tries to turn awkward, uncomfortable situations into non-awkward ones. In reality, it makes it ten times more awkward than before.

"Actually, you followed me," he glared at us.

"Ally wants to talk to you," Dallas yelled and ran towards the sidewalk.

"Ally, I really don't think this is a good idea," he sighed.

"Can you just listen to me?"

"Fine," he shrugged.

"I'm sorry for freaking out on you. I'm still not used to this whole high school drama stuff, and I doubt I ever will. I'm not used to a lot of things. Like pretending to be someone's girlfriend. Or pretending that I'm fine after our breakup, or sneaking around with Dallas trying to dig up stuff about Elliot. I'm not used to any of this. I have a lot of questions, but I have to remain silent because they'll either get answered, or no one understands why I'm asking them," I mumbled, trying not to cry.

"I don't even care that you freaked out on me, I'm actually impressed that you did. What bothers me is that you care too much. Both you and Dallas care too much about me. I stopped talking to Dallas and Dez because they cared too much after what happened last year. They figured because my brother is dead, they should feel sorry for me. Shit happens, and I have to get over it. Yeah, I'm still upset by it, but you know what? I needed someone who wouldn't treat that and me any different than before, but since Elliot has turned into a raging asshole with jealousy, you've been treating me way different than before. I know some of it was my fault, I'm not stupid, but if you two are going to keep worrying about me, it's not going to work out," he whisper-yelled. "I love you, don't get me wrong. You make me crazy, but I need to be strong on my own, and if Elliot wants to fight me, he can. I don't want you or Dallas getting hurt, especially you. I love you too much to see something scary happen to you," he sighed.

"Austin, I'm so sorry," I sighed and leaned into him. I wanted to cry, I really did. I just felt so bad about myself the minute he said that. I expected him to just stand there, unsure on what to do. Instead, he grabbed me and pulled me closer.

"No, I'm sorry. I overreacted, but you need to stop worrying about me. I'm doing better. I'm finally at a place in my life where I'm happy for the life that I have. I can deal with Elliot myself. Just please promise me you and Dallas won't get involved in this? I can handle it," he mumbled into my hair.

"I'm sorry for treating you differently. I just got too attached too quickly," I sobbed into his chest.

"Are you crying?" he softly chuckled.

"No…maybe…yes," I mumbled.

"I'm sorry," he laughed.

"Sorry for crying," I sighed.

"Stop saying sorry. You're always sorry," he laughed, looking down at me.

"Sorry," I lightly laughed.

"Ally, what did I say about being sorry?"

"My bad," I grinned.

"Better, but here, let me walk you home," he smirked, grabbing my hand.

The walk home was peaceful and by peaceful, I meant quiet. Austin seemed a lot better considering he got everything he has ever wants to say to Dallas and I off of his chest. He was still worried about something. I shouldn't ask because I care too much, but I can't help it.

"Austin, what are we?" I asked.

"Whatever you want to be," he smiled and squeezed my hand. That didn't answer much at all. I was still confused whether we were friends, best friends, boyfriend and girlfriend, or none of that.

"I don't know…it's your choice," I sighed, unsure what he was going to say.


	36. Anxiety

HI :D Thank you for reviewing! There are a few more chapters left :( but on the bright side...there is a sequel! xx.

* * *

Austin's POV

"It's your choice," she sighed, slowing down her pace. She looked at me in confusion, unsure what I was going to reply. Truthfully, I had no idea what I was going to tell her.

"Friends," I sighed, looking at her. She looked more hurt than ever. "Relationship later. I don't want to start something up and then go to college. Unless, you go with me, like you said you were," I laughed. She still looked upset, but not as much as she was a few seconds ago.

"What if I wanted to be more," she whispered.

"I can't do that. I'm sorry," I sighed.

She looked at me, unsure what she was going to say next. I could see a frown forming on her face, yet I could see fear in her eyes. She was scared about something, but I wasn't sure what it was.

"I'm sorry," I whispered.

"Why though?" she asked.

"I just need time to think about all of this. I just need you and Dallas to be my friends right now. Like I said before, I don't want you two dragged into this more than what you already are," I mumbled, still looking down.

"I understand, I guess," she sighed. "It's getting late…bye Austin," she mumbled and walked on without me.

"Yeah, later," I sighed.

* * *

The first week Ally and Dallas were fake dating were fine. Dallas would either come over after school or I'd go over his house. Ally would smile at me in the hall. The second week it was less and less. Dallas would just nod at me in the hall. Ally wouldn't even look at me. I've been hanging out with Trish and Dez lately and they've been talking about Ally and Dallas nonstop. Both Trish and Dez are my information carriers. They make sure Dallas doesn't do anything to Ally.

"Why don't you just confront Elliot, you weenie," Dez suggested. I wanted to talk to Elliot. I feel it is too soon though. He's been hanging out with Dallas and Ally a lot.

"He might be onto me," I groaned.

"But Dallas and Ally is the bigger problem," he sighed, fiddling with his fries.

"True, but it's not like I'm jealous or anything," I said and slouched lower in my chair.

"You're jealous, face it. But what I don't understand is that you ended it with Ally. She wanted you guys to be together so badly, but you pushed her away, twice I believe." The two things I regret, thanks for remind me, Dez.

"Can we not talk about that? I just wanted her to be safe," I whisper-yelled.

"Yeah, but her and Dallas are actually dating now," Dez muttered, loud enough so I could hear.

"They're dating?" I yelled, causing the whole cafeteria, including Dallas and Ally to stare at me.

"Yeah, Ally was telling Trish about it," Dez frowned.

"Austin, can I talk to you in the hall?" Dallas mumbled from behind.

"Sure, fine, whatever," I grumbled, following Dallas.

* * *

"I thought you guys were fake dating?" I whisper-yelled.

"We are, what makes you think we're dating? Do you not remember Veronica? Who is being oh so cooperative about this," he frowned.

"Trish said something to Dez that you guys," I tried to speak, but Dallas cut me off.

"That we're sick of this fake dating thing. My plan backfired and Elliot will not leave us alone," he groaned.

"So you two are not actually dating?"

"No, sorry, I can't think of Ally like that. She's all yours man," he laughed, pulling me into a 'bro-hug'

"Can you just confront Elliot, please? Ally and I completely backed off about you and Elliot. He's actually been talking to us about how bad he feels about you. He doesn't want to argue with you anymore. He doesn't associate with Barry anymore, mainly because Barry is in juvenile detention for a year. But Ally made him realize that even though his brother held a grudge against yours, that doesn't make you a bad person," he shrugged.

"Just go talk to him, he's in study hall right now," Dallas sighed and nudged me.

"Fine," I groaned and walked towards the library.

I walked in the library to see Elliot on the computer doing something. Knowing him, it was a paper for next year. I started to walk towards Elliot, but I turned around and went back down the hall. I couldn't face him. I didn't know what to do.

* * *

Fifth period was about to begin, but I was not feeling it. Instead, I skipped class to visit my brother. He would know. He knew everything.


	37. Different

Hi thank you all for your lovely reviews :) For those who celebrate the holidays. I hope you had a nice holiday :)

* * *

I sat there, unsure, worried, and full of fear. I never really talked to him out loud, it was usually in my mind, but something was different today. I wanted to talk and just get everything off of my chest.

Someone who was not I left him flowers and a card. The gesture was sweet. I did not know if I should read it, but I did anyway.

_"Matthew,_

_I did not know you personally, but your brother has talked of you highly. I know you're looking down, keeping an eye on him. He's a real sweetheart; you did well, my friend._

_-Ally"_

I could not explain what was running through my head right now. Ally must have been here yesterday or the day before. They look brand new. She is the definition of an angel and I don't deserve her. I threw her under the bus twice. She wanted to get back together and I turned her down. Why did I even do that? I don't deserve Ally at all.

I sighed and kept looking at his grave. I didn't know what I wanted to start with. Do I start with Ally or Elliot?

"Hi Matthew," I sighed. "I'm confused on so many things right now. I had this girlfriend for a day and then I lost her. I let her go. She gave you the flowers a couple of days ago. You would love her. She's absolutely beautiful. She's different from all of the girls. She's compassionate, brave, tough, smart, and she understands me. She helps me get through everything. But when I opened up to her about everything, she started to worry a lot about me, so I let her go. A few weeks ago she wanted to get back together and so did I, but I turned her down. What do I do?" I mumbled, feeling the tears run down my face. Never in my life have I felt this alone and this scared. What would I do? What _can _I do?

I could suck it up and deal with Elliot or I could let her go forever, but I know she doesn't want to do that. What would Matthew tell me? He would probably say something like "Oh Austin, you're such an idiot for letting a girl like Ally go. You should man up. Stop hiding behind people. Defend yourself and stand your ground. Show Elliot who is boss." How could I though? Beat him up? Confront him? I can't.

"Matthew what do I do? Do I just let him win or do I fight? I mean he's not really after Ally anymore, Dallas helped with that, but he still hates me." Who am I kidding? I am asking a tomb for answers. It's not like the therapist can be here whenever. It's getting to the point where she is busier and busier everyday.

Who am I kidding? I lost the girl of my dreams: the girl who has changed me for the better. I assumed things too quickly and just let her go.

* * *

"Austin, you have to go to school at some point this week," mom sighed. "We can't have you staying home the rest of this week. This is your senior year. Enjoy it with your friends."

"Mom, if you haven't noticed, I lost all of my friends because of this jerk," I groaned. It's strange talking to my mom about this stuff because we never did.

"Do you want to talk about it?" she asked, sitting next to me.

"I guess. You remember Ally?" I asked, and she nodded.  
"I miss her, why don't you have her over for dinner?" she smiled.

"Because we broke up," I mumbled. I thought to myself for a few seconds. I realized that I never told my mom I was dating Ally.

"Sweetie, I'm sorry. I had no idea you guys were dating," she frowned. "She was good for you."

"It was a mutual break up, but remember what happened in the summer?"

"With Dallas?"

"Yes, well the jerk who beat us up basically threatened me to stay away from Ally. I've been avoiding her as much as possible. I worry about her. I'm scared that she'd intervene too much. I don't know what to do. He hates me," I groaned in frustration.

"You could try to talk things out with him," she suggested. Why does everyone keep telling me that I should talk things out?

"Mom, he hates me! What makes you think that if I talk things out with him he'd leave me alone? We're not six anymore. I'm almost eighteen!"

"Austin, you're not even seventeen yet," Mom lightly laughed.

"What do I do?"

"You talk things out with him and if he doesn't want to settle things, avoid him. Avoid him as much as you can. You'll be out of here this year; you'll be off to college. You'll never have to deal with him again," she smiled.

"What about Ally?" I groaned.

"Do you want to get back together?"

I sighed. "Yes. I think I love her. Well I don't think, I know I love her. I care so much about her it scares me and I know for a fact that she loves me too."

"Then don't let Elliot stop you. If you're truly in love, go get her. Austin I know we haven't been there for you since Matthew, but that doesn't mean we're useless. In fact, your father and I always gave Matthew advice. Why do you think he always knew what to tell you? He would just tell you everything we told him. Never be afraid to tell us anything, even if it is embarrassing. We care about you too much to see you in danger," mom sighed. "You father and I have been talking. We figured we all should go to Vermont this winter as a family. I know things will be different, but we feel its best for us to take a family trip together. You can bring a friend if you want."

I looked at mom and frowned. I didn't know what to say.

"Austin. We're going regardless. Just think about bringing a friend if you want," Mom said and started to leave. "Austin, take what I told you to heart." She added before she left.

I pulled out my phone to tell both Dallas and Ally to meet me at my house. I needed to do this right and what my mom told me was my answer. What I told myself was my answer. I'm not dumb. Nothing is black and white anymore. The world is in color and reality can sometimes smack you in the face. Everything is so complex and so…different.


	38. Austin?

Hi sorry I have not updated, I have been sick!

* * *

Ally's POV

Packing. Moving. Transporting. The three things I absolutely hate. My dad is away at a convention with my mom. They're getting a whole bunch of instruments, leaving me to take care of the store.

Dallas ran into the store with his phone in his hand. He was completely winded. "Need help?" he managed to say before take a huge breath.

"Are you dying?" I asked, trying not to laugh.

"Austin texted me to come over his house. He said it was important. Did he text you?"

I'm not exactly sure if Austin texted me or not, but then again I didn't have my phone on me. It was upstairs, in my unfinished practice room. Something Austin promised he would help me do a year ago and possibly more.

"No? I don't think so. I didn't hear it go off."

"You should come with me. He said it was important and usually you're in on these meetings," he said, finally catching his breath.

"I have to clean up the store. You go without me. I'll catch up," I lied. Truthfully, Austin said he didn't want me involved, so I'm backing off.

"Well, if he wants you there, then you better show up. I'll see you later," Dallas said, pulling me into a hug.

"Bye, Dallas," I sighed, locking the door.

I went up in the practice room to work on a song. The practice room that Austin swore that he would help me finish up was cluttered. Stacks of paper everywhere, dull, cream colored walls, and a banged up piano.

I started to play a few keys, before writing some lyrics.

_"Last summer we met_

_We started as friends_

_I can't tell you how it all happened._

_Then autumn it came_

_We were never the same_

_Those nights everything felt like magic"_

It's a shame that Austin and I did not spend autumn nights together as much. Our summer nights though, they were absolutely magical. Laying in the yard, working on songs, recording songs, cuddling, watching movies, and most importantly, my first kiss. Every moment I spent with Austin was magical.

My phone started to go off. There were three texts from Austin.

"Can you come over?"

"Ally, we need you here."

"This is REALLY important."

I quickly closed my book and made my way to Austin's house. For once I was scared to go over his house. Mainly because Elliot probably had his eye on Austin and because of Dallas and I. Well, technically, Dallas and I ended the whole fake dating thing. His girlfriend, Veronica, was getting annoyed with this situation, and so was I. I have to give her mad props though. She put up with this since the start of school.

* * *

"Austin? Dallas?" I yelled from downstairs.

"Hey, it's just me. Dallas left a few minutes ago," Austin smirked, walking down the steps.

"Hello," I managed to say.

He grinned, "Allycat, I have some news for you!"

"And what is this?" I looked at him suspiciously.

"Well, one, Dallas told me you guys ended it, which I am unbelievably thrilled about. And two, I'm going to confront Elliot tomorrow," he grinned.

I looked at him in shock. He was going to face one of his biggest fears tomorrow. This is the Austin I know and truthfully, the Austin I miss.

"What? You're kidding. Austin I am so proud of you!" I hugged him.

Our hug was awkward. It was one of the first ones since you know, we ended it, well not really, when we thought we were getting back together, but instead he threw me under the bus. This hug was different. He poured all of his emotions into it making me understand how he truly feels about me.

"Austin, sweetie, oh…Ally, I didn't know you were here," Austin's mom smiled, walking into the living room.

"Sorry mom, forgot to tell you," he blushed and looked down.

I looked at Austin then back at Mimi and frowned, "Sorry Mimi, I was just about to leave. Austin wasn't in school today and I was worried about him."

"Ally, it's fine! You're always welcomed here. You can stay for dinner if you want to," she ran over and hugged me.

"Mom, I was just about to walk Ally home. Her parents are away until Monday," he paused.

"Aw, well it was great to see you Ally. Come on over again, you're always welcomed here," she hugged me.

"Come on, Als," Austin smirked and put his arm around me. "I'll be back in two hours, mom."


	39. Like Old Times, Remember?

"Do you think you could spend the night tomorrow?" I asked.

"Probably, do you not want to be alone?" he grinned. Truthfully, yes, it's just that my parents are away longer than they usually are and its weird not having company or having them around.

"Yes, that, and maybe we could catch up," I stuttered, looking over at Austin. His grin turned into a solid expression. It was harder to figure him out.

"Yeah, that would be great and I'll remember a change of clothes this time," he faked laughed.

"Bring enough for two days." The moment I said that, he stopped walking and looked at me. He looked as if he was about to smile, but couldn't.

"Why?"

I looked up at him and sighed, "Because I want to spend the weekend with you like old times." He stared at me with a blank expression. I couldn't tell if he was happy, sad, or angry.

"Alright, should I bring a movie or two or should I bring food?"

"Just bring yourself and we'll have fun," I said before mentally slapping myself. I had no idea why that just came out of my mouth. I hope I didn't give Austin the wrong impression; I am so far from that. "I worded that funny," I added. "Just bring yourself, no need to worry about movies, food, and other things, I have all that."

He just looked at me and smirked. "Whatever you say, Dawson. Your version of fun is reading and schoolwork. If that's what you mean by fun, I'm definitely bringing something," he laughed.

I rolled my eyes and continued walking.

"Ally you know I didn't mean it like that," he ran after me.

"I know you goofball, I just wanted to get home. It's chilly out," I shivered.

"Here," he handed me his jacket. "I'll get it from you tomorrow," he smiled.

His jacket was big, but comfy. It smelled like his body spray; sweet with a hint of spice. He told his mom he would be back in two hours, when I reality, I lived fifteen minutes walking from him. Maybe he wanted to spend some time with me.

We reached my house and he hugged me goodbye. I didn't want him to leave yet. Before he could leave, I grabbed his arm and pulled him inside.

"What are you doing?" he smirked.

I looked at him and blushed, "You said two hours. It's only been twenty minutes, I think you have time to spend with me."

"Ally," he closed his eyes and stuttered.

"Watch one episode of 30 Rock with me, please," I smirked and sat down on the couch.

"Fine," he gave in and plopped down next to me. "Ally! We've watched this episode before," he groaned.

"Suck it up Austin. We always watched Workaholics even if it was a repeat," I groaned.

"Fine. Just for you," he smirked.

Within the first few minutes Austin tried to put his arm around me, but was awkward about it. Instead, he just rested it behind me on the couch. I curled up next to him to break the awkwardness and tension between us.

As soon as I did that, his breath hitched, but he adjusted and wrapped his arm around me. It felt good being in his arms. Mainly because we're meant to be together, I believe that we are. He may not think, but we're right for each other.

Austin's POV

Ally and I started to fall asleep less than halfway through the show. I had to go home soon, but I really didn't want to. I wanted to spend more time with Ally. Well, I had the weekend, which is perfect, but I can't wait one more day.

* * *

I felt something buzzing in my pocket. I couldn't reach it because Ally was rested against my shoulder. I gently moved her over so I could grab my phone. I looked at the time and saw that it was eleven at night and it was a school night.

"Mom?" I whispered.

"Austin, if you were staying at Ally's you could have told me," she whisper-yelled.

"Sorry, I fell asleep on the couch, I'll come home now," I yawned.

"No, honey, you'll get caught. Just stay at Ally's and go to school tomorrow. I trust you," she said and hung up.

I looked over at Ally who was sound asleep on the couch. I didn't know if I should pick her up and take her upstairs or if I should just leave her there.

Ally yawned and mumbled my name.

"I'm here, Als," I replied.

"What time is it?"

"Eleven. We fell asleep."

"Are you staying here?" she looked at me and grinned.

"I guess so, my mom just called. She sounded fine by it, where should I sleep?" I asked.

"Upstairs in the guest room, with me, or downstairs, your choice," she replied.

"I'll stay on the couch," I sighed.

"Well goodnight," she got up and hugged me. It was another awkward hug. The one earlier today was awkward, but this one was weird. She kept looking at me, probably because I didn't let go. I kissed her forehead and suddenly, she was leading me upstairs with her.

"Ally, what are you doing?" I whispered.

"Like old times, remember?" she giggled.

"Right…old times," I muttered. I had no idea what Ally was intending right now and truthfully I was nervous. I didn't know what was going to happen and why she wanted me to come upstairs with her.

* * *

We reached her room and she locked the door. I was getting more and more nervous by the second.

"Ally, can I go back to the couch?" I asked.

"No, it's cold in here. Do you feel how cold it is?" she pouted.

"Yeah, ha ha, it's pretty cold," I stuttered.

She looked at me and frowned, "Austin do you not want to share a bed with me?"

"No, I do, it's just that is it going to be awkward?"

"Remember what you said about us being in love? How is that awkward? Austin I know our relationship is confusing, but we can pull through it, we always can." _Right, it's not awkward that we broke up, yet we're still in love with one another, but I don't want to date. That's not awkward at all. _

"True," I nodded and smiled. It is true though, I love her more than anything. Our relationship may be confusing, but that never stopped me from loving her.

"Then come here," she pulled me onto the bed. I liked this side of Ally. She was bold, brave, and dominating.

* * *

We plopped down onto the bed. I kept thinking whats next? What are we doing? Should I hold her? What should I do?

We laid there in silence for a few seconds until she curled up next to me. I wrapped my arm around her and pulled her closer.

"Goodnight, Als," I mumbled and kissed the top of her head.


	40. Good Morning

Sorry I have not been updating! I have been SO busy. I just finished my SATs, so I am good for now!

* * *

I woke up to the sound of her alarm clock. I rolled over to find her still asleep. I never knew Ally would sleep past her alarm. She was usually an early bird.

I sighed and started to nudge her. "Wake up, Als. It is 6:30 in the morning," I groaned.

She started to stir, but kept grumbling things like, "Austin, be quiet," "Austin, give me another ten minutes," and "Austin, go back to bed." As much as I would love to sleep, I had to go to school. My mom would freak out knowing that I skipped…again.

"Ally, sweetheart, we have to get up. Mom will kill me if I skip another day to school," I whispered and kissed her shoulder blade.

"Austin," she groaned. "Go back to bed. There is no school today," she whined and placed her hand on my face.

I started to drift back to sleep, thinking about how different things are going to be once I get all this Elliot drama out of my mind.

* * *

About an hour or two later, I woke up with the smell of pancakes downstairs. I knew Ally must have been up. I walked downstairs and wrapped my arms around her from behind.

"Do you know how perfect you are?" I whispered in her ear before kissing her cheek. She turned around and started to blush like crazy. "Now I do," she winked. "Hey listen," I sighed, still holding her.

She looked at me, nervously. "Hmm?" she replied.

"No more of this complex relationship shit. I'm done with it," I whispered and then thought about what I just said. I worded it funny, so I prayed that she did not get the wrong impression.

Her grin turned into a frown. Dammit, I knew I worded it funny. "No, not like that. Ally, I want to be with you. I don't care what will happen next, I need you in my life," I smiled. "I know we're at a weird point in our relationship, friendship, whatever you want to call it, but I want to get back…_for real_. None of this temporary bliss shit. I want you all to myself. I want to call you my girlfriend," I sighed and looked at her. She kept opening her mouth as if she was trying to say something, but she was frozen. Her words were choking her. She was trapped.

"No," was all she said and my heart sunk. Why no? Was I too late?

"Austin, I have always been yours. Forever and always," she smiled. I let out a sigh in relief. I guess it was fair because I gave her a heart attack earlier.

"Oh. Thank God," I whispered before picking her up and spinning her in a circle. I loved Ally more than I loved myself sometimes. "I love you," I whispered.

She looked up at me and bit her lip. "I love you too," she smiled.

"So…did we actually have off? Or was this one of your little schemes?" I asked. "Yeah, we actually did. Did you hear what happened?" she asked before grabbing the newspaper.

"No?" I replied, confused and grabbed the paper. I looked at the paper and saw our school on the headlines. It was nothing serious or terrifying. Our school was closed for the day because of this weird citizenship award. They were having a banquet and everything. Marino High School will always be the weirdest school I have attended.

"When did this happen?" I asked, holding back the laughter.

"They were awarded it two days ago. If you were in school you would have known," she laughed.

"Hmmm…weird. This means I will not see Elliot until Monday," I sighed.

"Nope. You will not see him until Friday. He is in California for some weird family thing. He made a big deal about it on Tuesday," she grinned, trying not to laugh.

"Elliot is a weird person," I laughed.

"So," her voice trailed off. "What's on the agenda for today?" she asked while wrapping her arms around my neck.

"I actually have to go home to shower and get some clothes, you are welcomed to join me," I replied.

"As great as that sounds, I have to work. My dad just texted me saying that I had to come in. Will you stop by?" she asked and I nodded. "Great!" she beamed and ran upstairs to get ready. "Can you drop me off on the way to your house?" she yelled from upstairs.

"Yes," I replied and turned on the TV.

* * *

Sorry this chapter isn't the best. It is sort of a filler, yet it is not. :| Okay okay okay!


	41. Whoa!

_Ally's POV_

Where was Austin? He dropped me off at Sonic Boom easily three hours ago. It does not take him more than an hour to shower and get dressed. Oh no, I'm turning into one of those obsessive girl friends…relax. He probably has a good reason for being late.

"Hey, Ally," Trish said while walking through the door.

"Hi Trish," I smiled and continued to take inventory. "Have you seen Austin?" I asked and she nodded her head. "Yeah, about an hour ago. He went to go visit me at work. He said he needed to run an errand or two," she smiled. Suddenly I felt better about it. "Why do you ask?" she asked.

"Oh, he just promised he'd keep me company today," I smiled. She looked at me suspiciously; she probably knew I was lying.

"Well, I'm here to keep you company! Plus, I really need to talk to you about something," her voice trailed off. "What is it?" I asked.

"In private…I need advice," she mumbled. "Okay, just let me finish up inventory," I replied and Trish went to go sit on the piano bench to wait.

"Hey you," a voice came up from behind. I turned around and it was Austin. "Hi," I whispered. "I missed you," he whispered and I kissed him, completely forgetting that Trish was here.

"When were you two going to tell me?" she squealed. "Uh, it was going to be on Monday as a whole you, Dez, and Dallas, thing, but I guess you're the first one to know," Austin laughed.

"This is exciting," she beamed. "And, since you are here, can I talk to both of you?" she said causing her smile to turn into a frown.

Austin and I sat on the counter while Trish stood opposite from us, pacing back and forth.

"Are you okay?" we asked in unison. She kept pacing back and forth, nervously.

"I like Dez," she whispered and we stared at her, jaws dropped and everything.

"I knew it," Austin whispered in my ear, loud enough so only I could hear. I couldn't help but laugh and swat his arm.

"Trish! This is exciting," I smiled, but she didn't smile. "I can't like Dez! He's…you know…Dez!"

"Who cares, Trish, you can't choose who you like. It just happens," Austin grinned.

"But it is Dez!" She retorted. "Austin, can you talk to him?" she asked and he nodded. "No problem. I'll do it on Monday, unless Ally doesn't mind if I come home late," he replied and winked at me.

"Whenever you can that's fine, but what do I do," she groaned.

"You tell him," I grinned. "How did you two tell each other?" she asked. We looked at each other nervously.

"It is a long story…" Austin mumbled and I nodded. "We broke up, got back, broke up, got back, and so on," I mumbled.

"But you two are the perfect couple. Everyone at school even says so," she sighed. "Man, I missed out over the summer. I'm sorry for leaving you two," she laughed.

"It is a long, complicated story," Austin explained. "Elliot's involved…" Trish looked at both of us and finally understood what Austin was talking about. "Ah, Elliot, how are you two anyway?" she asked and Austin laughed. "No idea. He wants to talk to me, so lets pray I do not get beat up again."

"Enough about you, what are you going to do about Dez?" I asked. "Nothing until Austin tells you and you tell me," she sighed.

"Well, I guess we better stop at Dez' house on the way home," he grinned and placed his arm around me. "I guess so," I smiled, looking down at Trish.

"I have to get back to work, I took my break two hours ago," Trish said and quickly ran out of the store.

"Do you think Dez would be suspicious?" I asked. "Probably, I'll drop you off, go to Dez' and then go back to your house. It'll be another guy talk thing," he grinned.

"Do you think Dez likes Trish?" I asked and Austin nodded. "Of course. I think he has liked her since he met her. Why else would they constantly be bickering?"

"True."

_Austin's POV_

"I'll see you in an hour," I smiled before kissing her. "I'll leave the door unlocked," she whispered in my ear. This girl will be the death of me.

I headed towards Dez' house to see Dallas' car in his driveway. I guess they were having guys night without me, which makes sense because I have been AWOL.

I went into the basement to find them on the couch playing video games. "Some guys night, eh?" I asked and they immediately turned around.

"You're not dead?" Dallas and Dez laughed. "Nope, sorry. Just spent some time with my girlfriend," I replied and they immediately stopped what they were doing.

"Who the hell are you dating now?" Dallas asked and Dez smacked his arm. "He's dating Ally, you idiot."

"Oh, thank god. I thought it was another girl," Dallas grinned. "You want to join?" Dez asked and I shook my head. "No, I actually have to go back home, but I needed some advice from you two," I lied. "Alright," Dallas replied. "What's up?" Dez asked.

There are a few ways I could ask this without sounding like a little girl. I wish this were easier. We never really talk about liking a girl. It just comes up; none of us actually try to bring it up.

"If you were dating your best friend would you guys act the same or differently?" I asked and they just stared at me "What do you mean?" Dez asked.

"Okay, so, theoretically, if you, Dez, were dating Trish, would you guys still be the same or would you be pressured to be the perfect couple?" I asked and Dez' face turned red. "Aw man, Fisher likes Trish," Dallas whispered in my ear.

"That was the plan," I whispered back.

"W-well…if I was dating T-Trish…I would…uhh…just leave it how it is," he stuttered, causing Dallas and I to laugh.

"I KNEW IT," Dallas and I yelled, causing Dez to get defensive. "I do not," he retorted.

"Okay, you can't name one thing you like about Trish?" I asked.

"She is assertive, brave, tough, funny, and gorgeous," he replied. "You like Trish, so shut up," Dallas intervened.

"That is all I need to know, I must get back to Ally, she is waiting for me," I grinned and grabbed my keys. "Also, ask Trish out, she'll say yes," I hinted before I left.


	42. Stressed

HEY HEY. Sorry I haven't been updating, but guess what...THE STORY IS DONE. (No this isn't the last chapter) but I finished it a few seconds ago and started on the sequel. yay!

* * *

"Dez likes Trish," I sang, waltzing through her front door, but she wasn't on the couch. I locked the front door and went up into her room. If she wasn't downstairs, she must be upstairs. I checked her room and she wasn't in her room. I started to get nervous and went back downstairs. I walked into her kitchen and saw her in the backyard.

"Als?" I yelled and she turned around. Her facial expression told me that she was frustrated and stressed. "What's wrong?" I asked.

"Trying to write a song. I can't think of the chorus," she groaned. "I tried going outside for inspiration, but nothing is clicking. I'm not usually like this," she sighed.

"A song for you or for me?" I asked and sat down next to her. "For you, duh," she grinned.

"Then let me help you," I smiled.

We went up into her room and started to work on a song.

"Anything?" I asked and she shook her head. "I think you need to relax," I suggested.

"How though?" she whined and slumped down in her head. "Well, we could cuddle, watch a movie, cuddle some more, sleep, and get something to eat," I grinned, pulling her onto the bed with me.

Ally's POV

"Well, we could cuddle, watch a movie, cuddle some more, sleep, and get something to eat," he whispered in my ear and pulled me on top of him.

"Austin," I squealed, but he shushed me. "Shhh, just relax," he whispered into my ear and wrapped his arms around me. "Just lay here and relax," he whispered.

I started to feel less tense and drifted to sleep into his arms.

I woke up around midnight and Austin was still awake. "You're awake?" I whispered and he nodded. "Can't sleep," he replied. "Can't stop admiring how beautiful you are," he whispered before kissing my forehead.

"You are so dumb," I lightly laughed. "But you love me right?" he winked. "Maybe," I replied and started to fall back asleep. "Goodnight," I mumbled.

Austin's POV

I couldn't help but think how great my life is right now. I am finally at a place where I am happy and didn't need to fake it. I tightened my grip onto Ally to make sure I didn't wake up without her.

I woke up around nine and still had Ally in my arms.

"Good morning, sweetheart," I whispered and kissed her forehead. "Morning, Austin," she yawned.

"You feeling better?" I asked and she nodded. "A little bit, I still think I have writers block," she sighed.

"What's on your mind?" I asked and she sighed. "A lot of things right now."

"As in?" I whispered. Ally looked at me nervously. She wanted to speak, but her words were trapped in the back of her throat. All she could do was squeak, nothing else could come out of her mouth. "When you're ready to tell me, you can text it," I sighed and got up.

"Where are you going?" she asked. "Downstairs, I need to make a phone call," I mumbled and walked downstairs.

"Hey, it's me," I sighed. "Did you do it yet...why not? Dude, you better do it quick. All right, okay…calm down. Sorry for waking you, I'll stop by later during lunch. Later," I groaned and hung up.

I checked my phone and saw that Elliot texted me. My heart sank into my stomach; I couldn't believe that he would text me. I quickly read the text and all it said was "Meet me at the library on Monday." I thought Ally said he was away on vacation. Things are not lining up properly, and I don't think I like it.

Walking up the steps, I couldn't help but think that Ally was keeping a secret from me. I felt strange just thinking about it. When I went into her room, I saw her fiddling with keys on the piano. She was still at it. That's what I liked about Ally; she never gave up. When things got tough, she always picked herself back up. "Anything?" I asked and she jumped.

"Sadly no," she shook her head. "Are you okay?" I nodded "Really? You seem nervous," she replied. I sat on her bed and she immediately got up and sat next to me. "You can tell me what's wrong," she whispered into my ear, rubbing my back. I grabbed my phone and handed it to her.

"Just read the text," I sighed.

"Elliot texted you?" she mumbled. "I thought he was away?" I looked at her, confused. "Yeah same, I don't know," I sighed.

"Do you want me to come with?" she asked and I shook my head.  
"Nope, I'll deal with it. It might get ugly. I hope not, but it probably will," I lightly laughed. "Now, what has been bothering you?" I asked.

"It's complicated," she sighed and fell back onto the bed. I followed her move and plopped down next to her. "I have all the time in the world," I whispered, intertwining my fingers into hers.


	43. The First Time?

Hello. A little warning: This chapter has the mention of sex. Just so ya know. We're all mature here, we can handle it.

* * *

"I really don't know myself," she sighed. "I'm just nervous for college, music, and you," she sighed once again.

"Why me?" I asked.

"I'm just scared we'll get into different colleges and we'll go our separate ways, you know? I lost you once, I don't want to again," she mumbled while tears were running down her face. "You move fast Austin. It is hard to keep up to you. I know you've gone through a lot, but you're fast paced. It gets hard keeping up to you. You're going to do well with music and most likely become successful. You'll live the dream I want to live, but I'm too scared. I can't perform in front of people. I'm scared you'll find a new songwriter one day. When you're off in New York, Hollywood, or anywhere your heart desires, you'll forget about me. I'll just be the girl who you knew in high school," she sobbed.

I immediately wrapped my arms around her. "I am not going anywhere without you. If I do end up living my dream, you're going to live it every second with me. Who cares if we get into separate colleges, I'll wait for you. If anything, you are fast paced. Ally, you are a genius. You could get into Harvard, Yale, Princeton, or Brown. You're too talented, Als. You'll get over your stage fright. I'll be there waiting until the very end. I don't care if I am 90 by the time we reconnect, I'll always wait for you. Remember that."

"I'm not going to make you wait on me," she sighed, wiping the tears away.

"Als, it is October. We have until January to apply. We'll talk about it, figure it out, and if worse comes to worse, we get into different colleges; we'll have the summer. Stop worrying right now. Things will get better. Trust me, I learned that things always get better," I smiled, kissing her right temple.

"And if it doesn't?" she mumbled.  
"Then we're shit out of luck," I laughed. "No, but really, things always get better," I grinned. "The world is a scary place, but I'm glad you're with me," she sighed and curled up next to me, resting her head in the crook of my neck.

"It is, but I'll be with you every step of the way," I assured her, kissing her forehead. "I love you. Never forget that."

We laid there for a few minutes in silence. We didn't look at each other; all we did was look at the ceiling, thinking about the future and what it will be like.

Ally sat up, stretched and looked back down at me. "Let's watch a movie," she suggested and I nodded. "What should we watch?" she asked. I sat up and slid my arm around he waist. "Your choice," I grinned before kissing her cheek.

I went downstairs to turn the TV on while Ally picked out a movie. I can't help but think to myself how I am so lucky to have her in my life. Matthew would have loved her.

Within a few minutes, Ally came downstairs with three DVDs and a few blankets. I looked over at her and laughed a little bit. She was ridiculously indecisive when it came to movies. "We have Silver Linings Playbook, The First Time, or Pitch Perfect. You pick."

To be honest, I didn't really care what we watched because I haven't seen any of the movies she had in her hand. I haven't even heard of the one. "Als, you pick."

"Okay," she replied and turned around. I couldn't see what movie she was putting in the DVD player, which made me a little anxious to see which movie she picked. Ally walked over to the couch and sat down next to me. I put my arm around her and lightly nudged her to move closer to me. "What movie did you pick?" I whispered, draping a blanket over us.

"I don't know. I didn't see which one I put it. I closed my eyes," she mumbled and I laughed. "You are a dork," I whispered in her ear, making her laugh.

Ally ended up picking The First Time, which wasn't bad, but I have never heard of this film. Halfway through the movie there was an awkward sex scene. It made me slightly uncomfortable for some reason. I have no idea why, but I just had that feeling of being uncomfortable. I looked down at Ally. She was fiddling with her hands, which meant she was nervous about something. I paused the movie and looked at her. "What's wrong?"

Her mouth opened to say something, but she immediately closed it and started the movie. I wasn't frustrated, but rather curious. Once again, I paused the movie and asked her what was wrong.

"It's embarrassing," she replied. I arched my brow and looked at her. "Ally, it can't be that embarrassing," I smirked.

"Is it really that awkward?" she asked. It took me a few seconds to register what she asked me. Then I realized she was talking about sex.

"I wouldn't know," I replied. "Why do you ask?"

She started to fiddle with her hands again. "It was just a question."

"Ally, you're anxious about something," I sighed. "It is not just a question." I kept thinking of scenarios in my head on what she was going to say next.

"I just wanted to know," she stuttered. "Just in case we take it to the next step." I felt my heart race as soon as she said that. I had no idea she was thinking about that. Was it bad that I was thinking about that too? Even before tonight I have been?

"Well are you ready?" I asked and she nodded. "I think so."

I sighed and looked down at her. "We'll talk about it tomorrow. We'll figure out a plan or something. Ally, I'm not good at this stuff," I laughed.

"Okay," she mumbled and continued the movie.


	44. Brotherly Advice

Hi, a little warning. This chapter talks about sex and I know that we're all mature here. I don't know, I figured I would warn you guys.

* * *

I woke up on the couch, alone. Ally must have gone upstairs in the middle of the night. I got up and walked upstairs and saw her fiddling with the keys on the piano again. "What time is it?" I asked making her jump.

"Ten in the morning," she replied and continued to play piano. "Hey, listen," I said and sat down next to her.

"Were you serious about what you said last night?" I asked and she nodded. "I'm not pressuring you," I added and she laughed.

"Yes. I was serious. I wouldn't joke about that," she laughed. My head was cluttered with thoughts about what was going to happen next. What we were going to do. What we were going to talk about.

"What are we going to do?" I asked and she shrugged her shoulders. "Like…now? Later…?" I added and she shrugged again.

"I don't know. I don't know, Austin. Maybe when the time is right?" she smiled and continued to play the piano.

"How do we know when the time is right? I might be different from you, we're not the same person," I shrugged before getting up. "My mom texted me earlier. She needs me home," I lied and left before she said anything else.

I hopped in my car and drove towards the cemetery. I needed some sort of help. I wasn't sure what I needed help with or if I needed help at all. I needed to clear my head and ranting to Matthew would be the best.

I walked towards the grave and sat down. "What do I do?" I whispered. "When is the time right? Is any time right? Help." I sighed, closing my eyes. I sat there in silence for a few minutes thinking on what Matthew would tell me. He would probably just say that it was all up to me. I got up and drove to Dallas' house, he would know, right?

I knocked on his backdoor and he opened it within seconds. "You good, Moon?" he asked and I shrugged. "I'm not even sure," I sighed and walked in.  
"Ally problems?" he raised his brow, looking at me and I nodded. "What's up?" he asked.

"Has Veronica ever mentioned sex to you and you didn't know what to do?" I asked and Dallas laughed. "All of the time," he smirked. "What did you do?" I asked.

"No idea, dude. It just happened, you know?" and I nodded. "Yeah, I get that, but she was like 'When the time is right' and some stupid shit," I groaned.  
Dallas looked at me and laughed hysterically. "What the hell does that mean?" he asked and I shook my head.

"No idea!" I retorted before laughing. "What actually happened?" he asked.

"We watched a movie last night, right? And there was a sex scene and she asked me if it was awkward and I told her that I wouldn't know. Then she was just like 'Austin…I am ready,' and I got really stoked, yet really nervous about it. So we talked about it this morning and she was just like 'When the time is right,' dude help," I groaned and looked over at Dallas who was texting someone.

"Who are you texting?" I asked and Dallas grinned. "The love-whisperer," he whispered.

Within a few minutes, Dez came running into Dallas basement. "Did someone ask for the love-whisperer?" Dez smirked and cocked his head. Dallas and I looked at each other and started to laugh. "Nice," I said loud enough so only Dallas would hear.

"Ally issues?" Dez asked and I nodded. "Dez, what does 'when the time is right' mean?"

Dez looked at me for a few seconds and thought about it. He wasn't sure at first, but then somewhat figured it out.

"If it happens, it happens. Let fate take its course. Leave it all up to time," he replied nonchalantly. "Why do you ask?" he added.

"Ally wants to take it to the next level and Austin wants it right now," Dallas smirked and I nudged him.

"Austin Moon, going to score," Dez grinned and high fived Dallas. "How badly do you want it?" Dez asked and I shrugged. "I don't know, whenever really."

"Also, when are you going to talk to Elliot?" Dallas asked. "Tomorrow," I groaned.

"Want us to be there?" Dez asked. "Yeah, it would be nice just in case things get ugly," I replied and looked over at Dallas. "What?" he asked and I shook my head. "You look like something is up," I replied.

"Nothing is up, dude. I'm spacing out today, sorry," he laughed.

I got up and sighed. "I better get home. My mom wants me home for some weird family thing," I sighed. Before I left, Dallas stopped me and handed me something. "When the time is right, Moon," he and Dez laughed.

* * *

"Mom, I'm home," I yelled and popped my head into the kitchen. No one was home. The car wasn't in the driveway either. I went into the kitchen and saw a note on the table saying they were at the mattress store. I left the house and drove to the mattress store.

"I went home and you guys weren't there. You never work this late, is everything alright?" I asked and they nodded. "A little extra money never hurt," mom replied. "I thought you were at Ally's?" mom whispered so dad wouldn't hear.

"Yeah, I was, but I figured I go home, do some homework, and hang around the house," I replied and sat down.

"Is everything alright?" dad asked and I shrugged. "I don't know. I'm just overwhelmed with things right now," I lied. "Girl problems?" mom asked and I shook my head. "Coping with death?" dad asked and I shrugged. "Failing school?" mom asked and I shook my head. "Then what is it?" Das asked and once again, I shrugged. "I don't know. I just feel overwhelmed. I haven't even applied to college yet."

"I'm sure Berklee will accept you," mom smiled and I shrugged. "I have to audition," I sighed. "That means, I have to go to Boston," I groaned and dad laughed. "That's no problem, we'll take you. Austin, we want you to go to college and we'll support you in any decision you make," mom smiled and hugged me.


	45. This is it, This is the End

I woke up, got showered, dressed and ready for school. I had to pick up Dallas and Dez today so we could talk to Elliot before school. I was nervous, so nervous that I was going to throw up.

"Ready?" Dallas asked before getting in the car. "Nope," I added and drove off to Dez' house. "You just passed Ally's house, don't you usually pick her up?" Dallas asked and I shook my head. "Not today. She is not getting involved in this," I replied.

"Nervous?" Dez asked and I shook my head. "When am I not?" I added. "True," Dallas nodded and turned the radio on.

We reached the school and walked towards the library. We looked over at Elliot on the computer, typing a paper.

"Elliot," I whispered and he looked over at me. "Austin," he mumbled, not taking his eyes away from the computer.

"Why did you need to talk?" I asked and he stopped typing. "Because I am…sorry," he mumbled and didn't take his eyes off of the computer.

"Elliot, stop being a coward. Moon won't hit you," Dallas added and Dez laughed a little bit.

"Elliot, look me in the eye and say it," I added.

He turned to face me and opened his mouth. He tried to say it, but he couldn't. "Austin, punch him," Dallas whispered. "Take your time," I added, ignoring Dallas' comment.

"I'm sorry, Austin," he sighed. "I accept it, but why now?" I asked and he sighed. "Ally stopped over a few weeks ago and yelled at me. I know you have been protecting her, but she's not an idiot, Austin. She can defend herself. You're too protective over her. I know you think because she's the new girl that she is weak, but Austin, Ally is brave as hell," he added and we looked at him. "What?" Dez whispered.

"You don't know Ally like I do," I replied and he shook his head. "Austin, listen, I'm sorry for saying anything about Ally. You're right, I don't know as much as about her like you do, but I know for a fact that I am sorry for everything that has happened in the past," he sighed, still looking at me.

"I forgive you, but what did Ally say?" I asked and he grinned. "A whole bunch of stuff. I can't even remember, but I have been dwelling on it for so long that I needed to apologize. The same goes to you Dallas, Dez and wherever the hell Ethan is. I'm sorry for putting the three of you through hell," he sighed. "You guys don't have to truly forgive me. I'm just letting you know that I won't try to brutally murder any of you guys," he laughed.

"Punch him," Dallas whispered to me.

"You can punch me if you want, but you're on school grounds, so consider that," he smirked.  
"Dammit," Dallas muttered.

"Just because I apologized doesn't mean were friends," Elliot muttered and we laughed. "That is fine by me," Dallas replied. "Yep," Dez and I said in unison.

"I better get to Ally," I whispered. "Same, but with Veronica," Dallas added. "Same, but with Kate," Dez replied and we stared at him.

"WHAT ABOUT TRISH?" We yelled. "I'm tutoring Kate…" Dez replied. "I didn't forget Trish, calm yourselves," he whispered and walked down the hall.

Dallas left me to find Veronica, so I roamed the halls and waited at Ally's locker until she came, but she never did. I skipped first period and walked past all of the classrooms to see if she was there and she wasn't. Second period passed and she still wasn't there. Third period and she wasn't there.

By fifth period she arrived. She looked pissed off. "I overslept and then I couldn't find my textbook. I was up all night trying to write a song and then my shower wasn't working. I'm having a bad morning," she groaned and fell into my chest.

I laughed and kissed her forehead. "Finish the song?" I asked and she groaned. "No," she mumbled. "You know, you're never late," I joked and she sighed. "I know, but this has been a bad morning," she grumbled.

"Hey moon," Elliot patted my back and walked down the hall. "Later, Elliot," I replied and Ally's head shot up. "What was that about?" she asked.

"I know you freaked out at Elliot a few weeks ago, he told me," I laughed. "You're not mad at me?" she asked and I shook my head.

"You're a brave person, Ally Dawson, and that's what I love about you," I whispered.

* * *

It is over! I am sorry it had to end, but but but but, there is a sequeel :D Keep a look out for it!


	46. Important! Sequel information

UPDATE: There is going to be a continuation up soon :')

Many have wondered why did Elliot hate Austin and will him and Ally last? The answers to both will be revealed in the sequel :')

The sequel is going to focus more on Austin's struggle through anxiety with the whole Elliot drama and his brother rather than Austin and Ally being together. And hey, maybe there will be some Trez :')

Thank you all for being lovely reader and reviewers! I promise you the sequel should be up either later today or tomorrow!


End file.
